The Boys Next Door
by OperaGoose
Summary: Sora and Roxas Strife move to Peninsula Nemo and start at a new school. What friendships will they make? Maybe there's love in store for these two twins... SoRiku. AkuRoku. Some Roxas/Hayner and implied SoKai.
1. Transfer Student

Chapter One: Transfer Student

 _Hands slamming down on the computer console, angry shouting coming out of his mouth. "No! No! No!"_

 _"_ _Sora!" the voice is familiar, but he can't place it. Hands are grabbing him around the waist and pulling him backwards. "Sora stop! If you damage the machine, you'll never save her!"'_

 _He relaxes, leaning against the hard chest behind him. He says a name, one belonging to a girl, someone very important to him—but he forgets it as soon as it's finished coming out of his mouth._

 _"_ _We have to go get her."_

 _"_ _-, it's a trap!" Another name that vanishes as soon as he's said it._

 _A warm, familiar chuckle. "Yeah. It is." He's gently deposited back onto his feet. "Since when has that ever stopped you?"_

 _"_ _Will you come with me?"_

 _"_ _As if you have to ask. Come on Sora."_

"Sora! Come on Sora!"

He opened his eyes. "Morning Roxas."

For a moment, he looked around the room and had no idea where he was. The room, the furniture, the view out the window—none of it was familiar. Then, he remembered that they'd just moved. They moved away from their old home, and moved in with their cousin Cloud, here in Peninsula Nemo.

His twin brother hit his arm and grinned. "Cloud says you have to wake up. School bus will be here in twenty minutes."

"Twenty minutes?!" he shouted, sitting bolt upright and nearly head-butting his brother in the face. "I won't even have time to eat breakfast!" He jumped up from his bed, tugging off his pyjamas and rushing towards the bathroom.

Fifteen minutes later, he was crashing into the kitchen, dressed in the new school uniform. Roxas handed him a toasted sandwich and herded him out of house. He scarfed it down and sat on the grass. "Roxas, I don't want to start a new school."

Matching sky-blue eyes rolled. "What are you even worried about? You'll have ten new friends by lunchtime."

"That's not what I'm worried about," he complained. "I don't know where any of the good napping spots are!"

Roxas laughed, leaning forward and ruffling Sora's hair. "You'll be fine."

He grinned up at his twin, before the bright yellow bus pulled onto the curb. The doors squeaked open and the driver gave them a bored look. The Strife twins climbed in.

Sora knew his twin was anxious about the intense looks they were suddenly fixed with. So he nudged his brother's arm and smiled, pointing at a pair of empty seats. "Let's go there."

They sat down. He expected the bus to pull away quickly, but instead the driver leaned on his horn once.

The gate to the house next door to theirs opened, and out stepped a guy in a black hoodie. The hood was pulled up, but as he walked up to the bus, Sora caught sight of his face. His features were delicate, and refined; silver hair hung in his eyes.

Roxas' elbow dug into his side.

"What?"

"Stop staring."

Sora huffed and slumped down into his seat. "I wasn't staring."

"You so were."

He leaned down, settling his school bag in between his feet.

"Dawn!" a voice called from the back of this bus. "Come sit here!"

The bus powered back up, and turned onto the street. Sora straightened up, but the hoodie guy was already past them.

Roxas nudged him again. "We've got about half an hour. Why don't you nap until we get there?"

Usually, Sora would jump at the chance to get more sleep. But he this time didn't. He shook his head. "I'm fine. I'm oddly buzzed actually."

"Cloud didn't give you coffee, did he?" Roxas asked suspiciously.

Sora grinned. "Not today."

He ended up making a friend on the bus. A blond kid named Hayner, who invited them both to sit with him and his friends at lunch. Then spent the rest of the trip telling Roxas about some competition called Struggle.

Sora's knee jumped up and down. He sat tapping his fingers on the windowsill. His eyes took in the scenery. Cloud had moved to Peninsula Nemo two years ago, after high school. They'd never come to visit before, so everything was new.

Eventually, they pulled up outside the school, parked behind a fleet of sunny yellow buses.

They went to administration first, and then the Vice Principal showed them the way to their home room.

Their teacher was a young brunet, with a stoic expression and a scar on his face. "Everybody quiet down," Mr Leonhart commanded. "New students—Sora and Roxas Strife." He paused after reading their last name, an unreadable expression on his face.

"Hi! I'm Sora," he announced brightly. "This is Don—" His brain whited out for a second. When it cleared, Mr Leonhart was pointing to a pair of empty seats in the middle of the classroom.

"I won't make you introduce yourself to the class." Roxas nearly slumped in relief hearing that. "You can talk for the rest of home room, but keep it to a manageable level."

"You okay Sora?" Roxas asked, his voice a concerned whisper.

He nodded. "Lost my train of thought. What class do you have first?"

"Chemistry," Roxas said, pulling a face. "You?"

"Literature," Sora answered, pulling the exact same expression.

They made new friends—or rather Sora made some for them both—who were happy to show them to their next classrooms. They separated, promising to regroup at lunchtime so they could find Hayner.

Demyx, one of Sora's new friends, was on his way to music. But their classrooms were in the same direction and he was happy to show Sora where to go.

Before class started, Sora introduced himself to the teacher and collected his booklist for the semester. It took longer than necessary to actually find the right bit of paper amongst the scraps.

By the time that was finished, everyone had taken their seats. "Everybody settle down," Mr Merlin instructed. "This is our new student- Sora Strife. I hope you'll all make him feel welcome."

Most of the students only gave him a passing interest. But at the back of the room, blue-green eyes widened behind dark-framed glasses. The guy didn't notice his pencil dropping out of his fingers.

"Mr Strife, there's an empty seat up the back there next to Mr Dawn."

Sora headed down the aisle. 'Mr Dawn' was glasses guy—who turned out to be their next door neighbour. He moved his little stack of books off the desk in front of the spare seat, before bowing his head and letting a curtain of smooth, shiny, silver hair hide his face.

Sora paid attention as best as he could—but since he hadn't actually read the book Mr Merlin was nattering on about, mostly he just tuned it out.

His neighbour had the novel open on the right page beside him, but he spent most of the lesson sketching, neatly lining, and shading a key in the margin of his notebook.

When the bell rang, he hurriedly collected up his books and fled the classroom before Sora had even closed his own notebook. He blinked in the other's wake.

One of the other students showed him to his classroom. They didn't talk much, just showed him the way and wished him a good day. Another introduction to the teacher, then the class, then he was handed a textbook and then given the empty seat.

"Next to Mr Dawn."

The tables were separated this time, so he wasn't squashed up next to his neighbour. Still, he gave the silver-haired guy a smile.

Riku looked more surprised by that. His mouth quirked up, and he lifted a hand up in a sort of wave.

Sora paid more attention, mathematics was easy. When he glanced over at his neighbour, the problems were half-solved, but his focus was on the strange star shape he was sketching in his book. Between glances, it grew depth. Maybe a starfish?

But then the top arm had a little stalk, and some of the other arms had leaves. It wasn't a starfish then. It was—

"A paopu fruit!"

All heads in the room twisted around to look at him. Behind polished lenses, blue-green eyes widened.

"Mr Strife," Mr Gabbiani said flatly. "Do you have something to share with the class?"

Sora grinned awkwardly. "No sir!"

"Then please continue to work on your problem sets in silence." With a final bored glare, Mr Gabianni went back to reading his magazine.

Riku was giving him a curious look. But he stayed quiet for the rest of the lesson.

Pence, one of Hayner's friends, took him off to Chemistry before going on to his own class.

Dr Vexen had him read the safety rules of the lab in the hallway before he let him into the lab. "We've got limited spaces. You'll have to pair up with Mr Dawn." He pointed to a desk at the back of the classroom. "Congratulations, Mr Dawn. Meet your new lab partner, Mr Strife."

An add smile quirked across the delicate, refined lips. Sora grinned and sat next to him. "Hi again."

It was a theory lesson, no playing with dangerous chemicals for them that day. Class finished, and his neighbour slowly packed up his things. Sora watched him carefully, matching his pace.

"Hey Riku," he said. The other' eyebrows lifted and his mouth gaped open. "…it _is_ Riku, isn't it? Riku Dawn?"

"Well. Yeah. But nobody really calls me that."

"Oh. I could… call you Dawn if you—"

"Riku is fine," the other said quickly.

Sora smiled. "Okay! You can call me Sora."

"Sora." Riku's mouth quirked up in a little smile as he said it. "How's your first day at Nemo Boys School, Sora?"

"It's great," he said brightly, "I've made **heaps** of new friends."

Riku chuckled at that. "Of course you have." He stood up off the stool. "You'll be meeting them in the cafeteria for lunch, right?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah."

"Do you need someone to show you the way?" Riku asked.

"Please!" he said, relieved that he hadn't had to ask.

Riku chuckled. "Come on. Do you have a locker yet?" He asked, leading the way out of the classroom.

"Not yet," he said quietly. "Admin said there was a shortage. Might not get one until the senior class graduates."

"You can stash your stuff in mine. If you want. Save yourself the trouble of lugging your bag around the cafeteria." Riku bowed his head, hair falling in front of his face.

"That's be great!" Sora said. "Thanks, Riku!"

"It's no problem." He led Sora through the hallways.

"I have Study Hall next, by the way," Sora said. "In case you wanted to know where I need to get to."

Riku blinked. "Gym after that?"

"Yeah!" Sora said brightly. "How'd you know?"

"We're on the same class schedule," Riku replied, sounding surprised.

"That's great!" Sora said eagerly. "That way I have a friend in every class."

Riku didn't seem to know what to say in reply to that. When he stopped in front of one of the lockers, he said: "this is mine." He grabbed the padlock and flickered through the digits quickly. After he opened it, he paused with just an inch or so open. "Uh, it's a bit of a mess. Give me your books, I'll find a place for them. The cafeteria's just down that way."

Sora handed over his whole bag. "I can wait. I promise I won't peek at your secret shame."

Riku chuckled, standing in a way with the locker open enough to put stuff in, but not letting him see what was inside. "You got lunch in here?"

"Roxas has our money for the cafeteria," he answered, shaking his head.

"Who's Roxas?" Riku asked, taking a brown paper bag out of the locker for himself.

"Huh? Oh!" He was used to people already knowing them as a pair. "Roxas is my other."

"…your other?"

"My twin brother."

Riku gave him a curious frown. "Weird way of describing it." He closed the locker and spun it to a random digit. "Cafeteria is this way." The hallway had thinned out—half of them in lunch block, the other half in classes. They made it there easily. "Here we are," he announced. "Cafeteria. Good luck with the bought food. Try and get packaged stuff where you can."

"Sora!" Roxas' voice called over the noise.

"That's Roxas?" Riku asked.

"Yeah! How'd you guess?" He teased.

Riku norted a laugh, then reached up to cover his mouth. "Just a hunch."

"Are you coming in?" Sora asked.

"No," Riku answered. "I eat outside. Get one of your friends to take you to Study Hall. I'll bring your bag there."

"Sora! Over here!"

"Your other is waiting," Riku said, turning away. "I'll see you after lunch."


	2. A Fleet of Yellow Busses

Roxas and Sora, since they were without gym uniforms and on the last week of their javelin unit, had been told by Mr Xaldin to make laps around the outdoor track. It was too cold for outdoor sports, and the twins jogged just to keep warm.

They opted to avoid the public shower stall, planning with one another to just shower when they got home. Sora had no doubt Roxas was already planning how he'd win the inevitable competition for first turn in the shower.

"You didn't have your bag at lunch," Roxas said, watching his twin shoulder the bag. They'd finished gym and were on their way out.

"Oh. Yeah. Riku stashed it in his locker for me."

Roxas gave him a lazy grin. "Who's _Riiiiku_?"

Sora poked his tongue out at him. "Riku Dawn. Our next door neighbour." At Roxas' blank look, he continued: "beautiful, silver hair? We have like all of our classes together."

"How do you know he's our neighbour?"

Sora gave him a strange look. "He got on the bus after us."

"Oh," Roxas said, nodding as he realised. "One of those Club 13 Guys. With the black hoodies."

"What's Club Thirteen?" Sora asked.

"Not sure. Some extra-curricular activity group. Hayner says nobody knows what they actually do."

"Roxas?" He asked, coming to a stop outside the school's front doors.

"Yeah, Sora?"

"Do you know which bus is ours?"

"Sure. It's the…yellow one."

"They're all yellow."

"Hayner catches our bus. Look for him."

"…Roxas."

"Yeah. I can't see him either."

"Roxas, they're starting to leave!"

"It's that one." Sora jumped, whirling around. Riku was standing behind them—his hood was up, and the lenses of his glasses were dark in the sunlight. He offered a hand forward to Roxas. "I recognise you from the bus this morning. Roxas, right? Sora mentioned."

The blond gave him a distrustful look, and turned to walk off. "The bus is going to leave. Come on, Sora."

Sora gave Riku an apologetic look and followed his twin over to the bus.

The ride was long. Roxas chatted with Hayner.

Not wanting to feel left out, Sora asked a question that had been bothering him the whole day. "Where are all the girls?"

"They go to the all girls' school on the other side of the bay," Hayner replied. "In Neminem city. It's not bad. Olette says the school is much nicer than ours."

Roxas was getting this odd, pinched look on his face whenever Hayner mentioned that girl. Sora asked the question for him: "who's Olette? Your girlfriend?"

Roxas kicked him in the ankle.

"Olette's our friend!" Hayner explained, grinning. "We went to the co-ed middle school together."

"Oh, cool," Sora said, smiling.

Hayner grinned. "You excited to meet some girls, Sora?"

He grinned back at him. "Wouldn't mind."

"Well, you missed the Summer swimming carnival, homecoming, the fall athletics carnival… best chance is the Winter Ball. It's in three more weeks."

"So we've gotta wait three weeks to meet Olette, huh?" Roxas teased.

Hayner laughed. "We're all meeting up to go to the beach on Saturday. You guys can come if you want. Just take the train to Neminem City."

"What time?" Roxas asked.

"Noon."

"Okay." Roxas nodded decisively. "We'll meet you there!"

"To meet Olette. And some other girls."

The bus pulled to a stop. A voice came from the aisle beside them. "This is Cloud's house." Riku walked away from them. Sora scrambled to pick up his bag and follow after him.

When they got off the bus, Sora came to a stop. A tall man with long silver hair was looking over the top of the fence. "What is Cloud doing?"

Sora glanced at Roxas. "Beats me."

"Hmph," the man scoffed, unimpressed. There was a long pause. "By the way. You two…" He whirled around, pointing a long walking stick at them aggressively. "Who are you?" He demanded.

"Dad!" Riku groaned, irritated. "Leave Cloud alone."

" _Dad?_ " Roxas repeated. Sora knew what he meant—the man looked way too young to be Riku's father.

"Long story." Riku glared and grabbed his father's arm. "Sora, Roxas—Sephiroth. Dad, these are Cloud's cousins."

"Cloud doesn't **have** cousins," Sephiroth said. But he was already getting pulled off by his 'son' towards the gate.

"That was weird," Roxas declared.

"Sure was."

"First one to the door gets first shower!" Roxas shouted, before jumping over their fence and racing towards the door.

"Roxas! You cheat!"

An hour later, they both made their way back down the stairs "So," Sora said. "You and Hayner huh?"

" _No_ ," Roxas replied stubbornly.

"Okay. You don't have to talk to me about it." He pouted though. He knew why his other wasn't sharing, but it still hurt—just a little.

Roxas shoved him. "…not yet, okay? I just… want to check things first okay. Pence is fine, but I want to meet this Olette, make sure she's not…" He trailed off.

"You two home from school already?" They arrived in the kitchen to find Cloud in there, peeking out from the curtains.

"Uh…yeah." Sora glanced at his twin. They'd been home for an hour already, hadn't their cousin noticed? "What are you doing?"

"Looking for Sephiroth."

"The weird guy from next door?" Roxas asked. "What's up with you two?"

"He's after my light."

"…okay? I'm going to start dinner." Sora gave his twin a weird look and started looking through the cupboards.

He made dinner. Roxas helped, Cloud didn't. They ate, cleaned up, and headed upstairs to keep themselves entertained. Bed, then up again in the morning.

"One day you'll get up early enough to have breakfast," Roxas said consolingly. Sora mumbled curses at him through a mouthful of buttered toast. "Look on the bright side, Sora. It's Friday already."

"Is it?" He asked, relieved. "A whole two days' break before we have to go to class!"

"We still have to get through today first, Sora."

He groaned. "Roxas. You're ruining my good mood."

Roxas mussed his hair. "Sorry. Friday will before you know it. And until then, you can spend the day with all of your new friends."

" **Our** friends," Sora insisted.

"I'm not sure I like all your choices."

As if to underline that point, the neighbouring gate creaked open. Sora turned, smiling as he saw who stepped out onto the street. "Riku!"

"Morning Sora. Morning Roxas." The latter was accompanied by a polite nod. Roxas replied with a suspicious glare, adjusting his bag over his shoulder. Riku didn't seemed bothered by it.

"Ready for the weekend, Riku?" Sora asked, shifting closer to their neighbour.

"Is it Friday already?" He replied, surprised. "You two have any plans?"

"We're going to the beach!" Sora said brightly.

"Dark Cove or Nihil Beach?" Riku asked.

"We're going over to Neminem City," Roxas replied.

"We're meeting Hayner and some of his friends!" Sora offered brightly.

"Definitely Nihil then." He shoved his hands into the pockets of his black hoodie. "I have some errands to do in the city. I can give you both a lift down to the train station in the morning. If you'd like." That part was addressed to Roxas.

The blond gave him an odd look. "Sure. If we don't get a better option."

"Just let me know by tomorrow night."

Sora grinned. "Thanks Riku. It's nice of you to offer."

"Any time." Riku's lips turned up in a gentle smile, but his eyes were hidden behind the sun-darkened lenses of his glasses.

Before Sora could answer, the big yellow bus pulled up to get them. "Come on Sora," Roxas said, heading towards the door. He gave Riku an apologetic look and headed after his twin.

Hayner had saved them seats, and that was where Roxas headed. Sora watched Riku head towards the back of the bus. "You didn't have to be so mean to him, Roxas."

"I don't trust him," his twin replied, his expression stony.

"Who are you guys talking about?" Hayner asked curiously.

"Riku," Sora answered.

Hayner gave him a blank look.

"Dawn," Roxas clarified.

"Oh, him," Hayner said, nodding. "He's not so bad. Kinda keeps to himself. Draws a lot."

"I don't trust him," Roxas repeated, folding his arms stubbornly. Sora just huffed, turning to look at the window for the rest of the trip.

The journey went quickly, and they pulled up outside the school. The students all herded themselves out of the bus—some headed towards the front doors of the school, others dispersing across the courtyard. Sora shouldered his bag again, feeling how heavy it was.

"Do you want to put that in my locker before home room?"

Sora turned, grinned at Riku. "Yeah! That'd be great."

He glanced at Roxas. "You can too if you—"

"No thanks," the blond snapped.

"…okay." He shrugged. "You can stay here with Roxas if you want, Sora. I'll take your bag for you."

"Nah, I'll come with you." Sora turned and grinned at his other. "I'll see you in home room." Roxas' lips pursed, but he nodded. "Lead the way, Riku."

"It's quickest this way," Riku replied, leading him off. They asked in silence, Sora walking close beside him so he wouldn't get lost.

"Roxas doesn't hate you, by the way," Sora explained quickly.

He glanced at Riku, blue-green eyes now visible through the fading lenses of his glasses. "Huh?"

"Roxas. I know he's being a bit of a jerk to you. But he doesn't _hate_ you," he replied quickly.

"Sora," Riku interrupted, "it's okay. Roxas can treat me however he wants. I'll deal." He stopped in front of a locker. "This is ours. 811." He grabbed the lock. "The code is 76-7-2."

"76-7-2," Sora repeated, nodding.

"I cleared the bottom half for you," he explained, holding the locker door open for him.

"Is that a short joke?" Sora demanded suspiciously.

Riku chuckled, neatening his row of books on the top shelf. He dug a brown lunch bag out of his pocket and wedged it between a biology textbook and some sort of portfolio.

"Is that your drawings?" Sora asked.

Riku's eyes darted towards the portfolio. "Uh… sort of. I took art last semester. It's my workbook."

"Can I see it?"

His skin was pale enough it was easy to see the blush that dusted his cheeks. "Uh… no," he answered awkwardly. "No offense?"

The brunet just gave his friend an easy grin. "It's cool. I just wanted to know what they were like." He shoved his bag on the bottom of the locker. "I should get to home room." The bell ringing suddenly agreed with him.

"Do you know how to get there?"

Sora gave him a sheepish look. "No?"

Riku laughed. "Who've you got?"

"Mr Leonhart."

"Come on. His room is this way."

Demyx had to show him to the Lit classroom, but for the rest of the day he had Riku to lead him around. He was in all of his classes, so it wasn't like he was going out of his way.

At lunchtime, they solidified their plans to meet at the beach with Hayner and Pence. Sora picked through his cafeteria lunch, unsure of what exactly it was supposed to resemble. It wasn't that he felt **left out** , really. But he was starting to feel like these were Roxas' friends, and he was only there because Roxas was his twin. Was this how Roxas felt all the time?

At the sound of the bell, Sora headed back to their locker. He smiled when he saw Riku already there. Riku was _his_ friend—Roxas wanted nothing to do with him. He smiled and stood behind him.

"Hi Sora." There was a smile in his voice, but he hadn't turned around. He slid one of the books out of his neat shelf. "Hey, we're starting a new book in Lit next week. Did you get copies yet?"

"I have a copy of the booklist…?" Sora replied sheepishly.

Riku chuckled. "Alright. We'll get our names checked off in study hall, and then I'll take you to the library to pick up the _actual_ books."

Sora grinned, and latched onto his arm in a tight hug. "Thanks, Riku!"

He looked down at him, and Sora watched a pink blush spread across his nose and cheeks. "Um. You're welcome. Did you need anything from in here?" After Sora shook his head, Riku closed the locker. "Come on. It's this way." Sora released his arm and they went on their way.

In the library, they ran into trouble. Zexion, a student behind the counter whose dark hair obscured most of his face, frowned at them. "We don't have any copies left."

"Of which book?" Sora asked, confused.

"The entire booklist," the other replied, his voice a low monotone.

"Doesn't the library keep spares?" Riku asked dubiously.

"We did. _Two_ extra copies of the books. But now they've all been signed out for the semester." He closed the big ledger he'd been reading from. "I can't help you." He walked away without another word.

"What am I supposed to do for class?" Sora complained.

"Hey, it's fine," Riku said, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You can share my books. I'll read it this weekend."

"Aren't you coming with us to the city?" Sora asked.

"Uh." That pink blush dusted across his cheeks. "Well. I'm taking you to the train. I'm not really spending the day with you two."

Sora tilted his head. "Why not?"

"I mean… I have some errands to run. And I wasn't exactly invited along."

"Well, I'm inviting you!" Sora said eagerly.

Riku chuckled. "You're a nice guy, Sora." He shook his head. "But we both know some people that would be less than pleased about me tagging along."

Sora sighed. "Well. I don't think it's fair."

He shrugged. "Come on. I'll take you somewhere quiet, we can start reading Hercules."


	3. Sea Salt Ice-Cream

Saturday morning. They finally got to sleep in. Sora woke up with the sun streaming through the window. Roxas was snoring away, and underneath that familiar cacophony he could hear another sound. Kneeling up, he pushed out the windows and looked.

There was a smacking sound, like wood striking against wood―repeated, but arrhythmic; accompanied by low grunts and shouts. His eyes found the source―there, down the back of the yard next door, was a wooden dojo with open panels. As he watched, Riku appeared between the columns.

He was bare-chested and bare-foot, almost dancing across the tatami mats, engaged in a wooden sword fight with his father. Sora admired them, until Riku lost―his father's long sword hitting him right in the centre of his chest. He bowed, politely, but Sephiroth turned and walked away without a word.

Sora continued to watch as Riku closed the dojo up, then went over to an old hand-operated water pump. He filled up a bucket, took a few handfuls to drink, then dumped the rest over his head. The brunet watched as water tickled down the defined muscles of his back, and the strange symbol tattooed on his back. He turned back towards the house and Sora felt his breath catch in his throat at the mess of scar tissue on his side.

It distracted him, wondering how he could've possibly gotten it, until Riku's arm raised up in a wave. He blushed to be caught staring and waved back. Riku wasn't wearing his glasses, at least, so maybe he hadn't been caught out. The other disappeared through the back door.

Sora got out of bed and tossed is pillow at his twin. "Come on. We're going to meet Hayner at the beach today, remember?"

An hour later, they were just clearing up breakfast when there was a knock on the front door. "That'll be Riku," Roxas said, his lips pursing.

"Be **nice** , Roxas," Sora scolded. "He didn't **have** to take us with him to the station you know. He's being kind."

"Fine. But he better not hang around all day! Like a bad smell."

"…Cloud let me in." They both turned to see Riku standing in the kitchen doorway, his expression blank. He was dressed in a pair of baggy jeans, and a white-and-yellow vest with a high, black collar. "If you want to get to the beach by noon, you'll need to be on the eleven-fifteen train. We should leave soon."

"Right," Roxas said. He put down their plates. "I'll go grab the bag." He hurried out of the kitchen, no doubt awkward about being caught out bad mouthing Riku by the guy himself.

"Morning, Riku," Sora said brightly―trying to fight off the awkward air.

"Sora," he said, his voice a little reserved. "Do you need to grab anything?"

"No," Sora answered. "Roxas has everything together."

He just nodded. "I'll go wait in the car." Turning on his heel, he headed out into the hallway. Sora frowned. He'd definitely heard what Roxas said about him. Now he was mad at them both.

He followed Riku out the front door, slipping into the passenger seat. "So maybe Roxas does hate you. A little. But I promise you haven't done anything."

"You don't have to explain, Sora," Riku said, fingers tapping on the steering wheel. "I don't need Roxas to like me. He's more than welcome to treat me however he likes."

"What do you mean?" Sora asked, confused.

"I don't have many friends, Sora," he replied quietly. "Most of the people here, the guys at school, they act like I don't belong around here. I'm used to it. You don't have to defend Roxas for doing the same thing."

"Is it because you're gay?" Sora asked.

He laughed at that. Roxas yanked the door open and slid into the backseat. "No, Sora," he said. "The people 'round here don't have a problem with gays."

Roxas shot them both a suspicious look. "Good to know," he said, punctuating it with a click of his seatbelt. "Can we go already?"

Riku started the car, silently driving down the hills towards the cliffs, and the train station there. He parked outside the front doors. "I have to find a parking space," he told them. "Ticket booth is easy to find. You want two student tickets to Clocktower Station."

"Aren't you coming?" Roxas asked, confused.

He shrugged. "I'm not in a rush. You guys need to be on the eleven-fifteen."

Sora clenched his fists anxiously. "But what if we get on the wrong train, end up in the wrong place?"

Riku chuckled. "There's only one train, and it goes to Clocktower Station first. Then you go to the tram stop on the road outside, catch it to the beach."

"But how long do we have to stay on the tram before we get off?" He asked, frantic. "What if we go in the wrong direction?"

Riku sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Okay. Let me park the car. Go line up for your tickets."

Before Sora could argue more, Roxas grabbed his arm and tugged him toward the station doors. "Go park the car. We'll meet you inside." Sora gave his twin a confused look. "If you don't let him park the car, we'll definitely miss the train." He tugged Sora over to the ticket booth. "I'll even let you buy him a ticket."

"You're feeling generous," Sora said suspiciously.

"He's a local. He knows his way around. I don't want to be any later than we have to be. Riku can show us the way."

"So you'll tolerate him as long as he's useful."

"Don't act surprised, Sora," Roxas answered. "We can't all be as genuine and nice as you. Two high school tickets to the clock tower, please."

"Three," Sora corrected. "We'll buy Riku's too. Save him some time."

"That'll be three thousand munny, please," the ticket saleswoman replied with a blank smile. When they handed the money over, she slid them three tickets. "Enjoy your trip."

He could hear the train on the platform as Roxas pulled him up the stairs to the platform, and nervously glanced at the doors for Riku to come in. He didn't know what time it was, or how long it would take for the train to leave the station.

Finally, the silver-haired head appeared, coming up behind them. "Riku!" he called. "Hurry up! The train is here!"

Riku started jogging. "Head toward the platform! I'll catch up!" he called.

He didn't want to go without him, but Roxas grabbed his arm and started pulling him along faster. He ran, repeatedly glancing back to make sure Riku wasn't falling too far behind them.

The train was puffing with smoke. A set of doors stood open directly ahead of them. The twins jumped in, and a whistle blew loudly.

"Riku!" Sora shouted, his stomach twisting with panic. "Riku!"

"Sora!" he called, rounding the corner onto the platform.

The doors screamed as they began to close. Sora cried out and thrust his arm against the door to hold it open. "Riku! Come on!"

 _Don't give up! Come on Sora, together we can do it!_

Sora gasped. A twist of grief hit his chest. "Riku!" he said, hands growing slippery as he scrambled to hold the door open.

A pale blur rushed through the door, slamming into him and sending them both falling to the floor. The doors hissed closed.

Sora looked up at Riku sprawled awkwardly on top of him. "You made it."

The train shuddered and started moving.

A blush dusted over Riku's nose and cheeks. "Sorry." He sat up, offering a hand to Sora to help him to his feet. "Go sit with Roxas."

"Yeah, let's go." He didn't plan on letting Roxas scare his friend off. He pulled Riku along by the hand, dropping them into the seat across from his twin. Roxas glanced at their hands and raised his eyebrows. He didn't reply. "So how long does it take the tram to get to the beach?"

"It's about fifteen minutes," Riku said. "You should get there at about five past noon."

Roxas nodded at him. "Thanks, Dawn," he said. "I appreciate you helping us sort out transport."

"You're welcome," Riku replied. His hand was still nested in Sora's, as if he hadn't noticed it was there. "Look," he said, pointing out the window as they emerged from the dark tunnel. "You can see almost all of Neminem City from here." He pointed his finger at the tall clock tower on the top of the cliffside. "That's the station. You want to take the tram going directly down to Nihil Beach. It's a steep journey, but the other line zig zags all the way through the city; takes about two hours top to bottom."

"What's that castle, up there on the hill?" Roxas asked.

"Castle Oblivion," Riku answered. "Well, used to be. They turned it into the girl's school."

Sora shivered hearing the name. "How come they get a castle and we get an old brick monstrosity?"

He chuckled. "More male students on Nemo." He shrugged. "I'd rather be on the peninsula anyway. That old place gives me the creeps." He shrugged. They sat in silence for a few minutes. "It's 35 minutes from station to station. I'm going to grab some drinks from the dining cart." He stood, extracting his hand from Sora's. "I'll be back in ten."

Sora watched him walk away, then turned his gaze back to his twin―who was still watching him. "What?"

" _Him_ , Sora? Really."

He coloured slightly. "I don't know what you're talking about, Roxas."

"Uh-huh. Sure." He folded his arms and stared out the window. "I guess he can hang out with us. Since he's taking us all the way down to the beach."

Sora grinned at him brightly. "Thanks, Roxas!"

"Don't mention it. No, really. Don't."

"Your secret's safe with me, Ven. I won't tell anyone that you secretly have a heart."

Roxas rolled his eyes at him. "Shush. Someone might hear you."

They sat in a comfortable silence until Riku came back, carrying a cardboard tray with him. He slid it over the table separating their seats as he sat down. "Here. Dig in." He picked up a can of juice, cracked it open and sipped it. "So… where did you two come from anyway?"

"Destiny Islands," Sora replied for them both.

Riku hummed, looking out the window. "Sounds like a nice place." He frowned. "Cloud's never mentioned it, but then again he never mentioned his cousins either."

"They're pretty remote," Roxas explained coldly. "Don't expect many people could find it a map."

"I never was much good with geography."

They fell silent―tense compared to the one between the twins just before. Riku looked loose and comfortable, but the hand in his lap was clenched into a white-knuckled fist.

"Well. Sora can teach you how to build a sandcastle."

Riku raised his eyebrows. He didn't reply, however, just looking away from the window to the fair-haired twin. They watched each other, expressions blank, for a few moments. Then Roxas turned his head to look out the window.

Riku picked up a can and offered it to Sora. "Pineapple juice?"

"My favourite!" Sora said eagerly, taking the can from him with greedy hands. "How'd you know?"

"Just a hunch."

Sora happily drank from the can, humming at the sweet flavour dancing on his tongue. He enjoyed it, savouring the drink for the rest of the train journey. When they passed under the arch into the train station, Riku stood. "Come on. Not far to the tram stop. Your friends are waiting."

Sora grabbed Riku's arm to keep close to him, throwing a hand back for Roxas to take. Together the three of them made it through the crowded lobby and onto the street. Not too far forward, the cliffside open up onto a view of the peninsula, and the grey open ocean beyond it.

"There's the tram," Riku said. "You better be on it. Next one won't be for half an hour."

"You're not coming with us?" Sora asked, confused. "But you were going to help us with the tram!"

"There's three stops and the beach is the last one. You can't miss it." Riku gave him a reassuring smile.

"But I want you to come to the beach with us," Sora said, disappointed.

"Sora…"

"Come on already, Riku!" Roxas snapped, pulling forward and dragging the two of them behind him. "We don't want to miss the tram."

Riku didn't argue again, just stood quietly near Sora's seat as the tram rattled down vertically across the cliffside. He'd been right―there was really no missing the right stop. The beach was pebbled, and didn't look particularly appealing. He laughed when he saw the twins' matching disappointed expression. "There's sand further down the shore," he told them. "But you'll see the ice cream shop first."

"Lead the way then, Dawn," Roxas said, folding his arms and glaring at him.

Sora gave his other a look, but Riku didn't react other than to nod and start walking towards the hutch in the distance. "They don't have pebble beaches on Destiny Islands then?" Riku asked Sora as they walked.

"No," he replied. "White sand and blue as far as you can imagine."

"As blue as your eyes?" Riku asked in a soft tone.

Two girls were walking past them, back towards the tram, but as Sora heard that, he whipped his head around to look at him. Riku's nose and cheeks were pink again.

Sora looked away. Roxas elbowed him. "That girl was staring at you."

"Huh? What girl?"

"The twins that just walked past us. The dark-haired one was staring at you." Roxas winked at him.

Sora flushed. "I didn't notice any girls," he mumbled. His twin laughed at him, and they walked the rest of the way to the ice cream shack in comfortable silence.

"There you guys are!" Hayner's voice announced from the sand beach. "We were starting to worry you got lost!"

"Dawn was showing us the way," Roxas replied.

"Come on, Roxas. Let me introduce you to Olette…" He pulled the blond twin off, leaving the brunet behind.

Sora tried hard not to be upset. Roxas had friends. That was good. Roxas was starting to _open up_ to people again. And he was sure Hayner hadn't **meant** to leave him behind. He was just closer to Roxas and grabbed him.

He felt a nudge to his arm. "Hey. I know it's not hot, but do you want ice cream?"

He turned to look at Riku, who was giving him an awkward smile. "…yeah! I love ice cream."

Riku nudged him again, and led him inside the shack.

"Hi there!" the salesman called. "Would you like to try our special today? Sea salt ice cream!"

Riku glanced at Sora, and after his nod, called, "yeah. We'll take two please."

The man fished them out and handed them over. "That'll be 300 munny please." Once he handed money over, they got a bland smile in return. "Enjoy your ice-cream."

Riku led Sora back out. "You ever had one of these before?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah. It's Roxas' favourite flavour."

Riku hummed, leading the brunet across the sand. Sora felt his gait immediately shift to accommodate the loose sand, and when he glanced over at Riku he was surprised to see he'd done the same.

"Do you come to this beach often?" He asked.

"Hm?" Riku said, taking the ice cream out of his mouth. "This one? Not really. I don't usually come this far down Neminem City."

"Oh."

"Why do you ask?"

"You, um, walk like you're used to sand."

Riku glanced down at his feet, wriggling his toes inside his shoes. "Do I?"

"Yeah."

"Hey Sora!" Hayner called. "We're gonna teach Roxas how to play Struggle. You coming?"

"Yeah!" he called back. Lower, he asked, "what's ' _Struggle_ '? Hayner talks about it a lot."

"It's a game," Riku replied. "You hit your opponent with a padded bat until there's a winner." He shrugged. "It's too late in the year to go swimming, there's not much else to do."

"Well, might as well go cheer my other on." Sora grabbed Riku's arm and pulled him over to the sandlot Hayner and his friends had marked out in the sand. After a while of watching, he turned to his friend. "You'd be good at this."

Riku finished cleaning off his popsicle, and settled Sora with a curious look. "What makes you say that?"

"I saw you fighting this morning," he replied.

Riku hummed. "I mean… I guess I would be," he admitted quietly. "I've never tried it."

"Hi," a bright voice said from beside Sora. "I'm Olette! I don't think we met when Hayner was introducing me to Roxas. You're his twin, right?"

"Hi. I'm Sora." He gave her an easy grin. "Nice to meet you."

She smiled and chatted with him, asking questions like how was he enjoying Peninsula Nemo? Was he enjoying school?

He felt aware at every moment that she was all but completely ignoring Riku. When he looked at the other, Riku was watching the game with a composed expression. Was that what he'd meant about people not liking him?

She wandered off to talk to Pence after a little while. Sora moved his hand down and squeezed Riku's. The other didn't say anything, but Sora felt a slight squeeze back.


	4. Flamin'

Eventually, Hayner and Roxas finished up their game and the group regathered.

"I need to go," Pence said. "Mom said I have to be back home before it gets dark."

"Me too," Hayner said. "You guys coming?" He asked, looking between Sora and Roxas.

Roxas looked to Sora for an answer, who looked at Riku, who looked surprised to be asked. "I still have my errands to run," he replied. "But you guys can go with them, if you like."

"You drove us to the station," Roxas reminded him.

"If Hayner or Pence's parents can drive you home, then it's not a problem."

Hayner looked guilty. "Sorry. We rode our bikes."

Riku sighed. He rubbed the back of his neck with a hand. "I might be a while."

"We'll just have to come with you," Roxas said irritably.

They all took the tram together. Olette got off the first stop, then Riku and the twins got off at the second. Sora walked close to him, and Roxas stomped alongside his twin.

"I'll buy you both dinner," Riku said quietly. "Sorry."

Sora grinned. "That'd be nice!"

"You don't have to," Roxas added sourly.

Riku just shrugged. "Come on. Art store first."

Sora glanced at Roxas and followed after his friend. The art store was small, and Roxas pretended to browse while Sora followed Riku over to the sketchbooks.

He picked up a few, testing the pages with his thumb.

"What are you looking for?" Sora asked.

"It's gotta be thick enough for water colour," Riku answered. "And then I need to get watercolour pencils."

"Oh. Okay."

Riku chuckled. "Sorry. I know this is boring. I didn't think you two would be here with me. I was going to get this stuff while you were all at the beach."

"It's okay," Sora said, smiling at him. "I don't mind." Roxas probably did, but he wasn't going to **say** that.

The slight smile that crossed Riku's lips said he knew it anyway. Eventually, he picked an art book, and he only spent a few minutes browsing the watercolours before he picked the right set.

He took them up to the cashier—a thin, blonde girl who Riku called ' _Naminé_ '. He handed over a large sum of munny for the two items. "Did I see you two down at the beach earlier?"

Naminé nodded. "Yes. We went down there during my lunchbreak to collect seashells." She peeked at the twins. "Who are your friends?"

"I'm Sora, and this is Roxas," he introduced, smiling widely. "We just moved here."

"Nice to meet you both," she said, her voice almost too soft to be heard. "I hope I see you again soon."

Riku said goodbye and headed for the door. Sora hurried after him, Roxas trailing behind. "If you want to keep that stuff in my bag, I guess that's okay," he said. Grumpy, but obviously trying to make an effort to be nice.

"As long as you don't mind," Riku said, carefully handing over the wrapped bundle.

Roxas shoved it in his bag. "I would kill for a good coffee."

"Not sure about 'good'," Riku answered, "but there's a Starmunny up those stairs." He pointed to steep staircase cut into the cliffside. "Would that curb the homicidal rage?"

"For now."

Riku laughed. "Come on." He led them over to the staircase. Though it was more like a ladder. "Hold onto the railing." Roxas began to scale it easily. Sora hesitated carefully climbing his way up the staircase. "I'm right behind you. If you slip, I'll catch you."

Reassured, Sora followed after his twin. They made it up without incident. The Starmunny was directly across from the stairs, and Roxas practically **skipped** over to the store.

"Maybe next time we'll take the tram," Riku suggested, leaning onto his knees to catch his breath.

"Maybe," Sora agreed, collapsing down to sit on the floor.

They caught their breath, then Riku offered a hand down to him. "Come on. Let's go catch up with your brother."

They got inside the store just in time to hear the barista call "coffee for Roxas!"

The blond grabbed it and came back to them. "Alright. I'm ready to go."

Riku nodded. "Come on. We'll grab dinner. There's a food cart a little further down the hill. It'll be cheap, and quick."

Roxas just shrugged. Sora followed—he **was** getting hungry. Quick and cheap sounded like an excellent choice.

The cart was easy to spot. _Flamin'_ sat on the street near the tram stop, and had a flashy red/orange/yellow sign. A woman collected a stick of meat from the owner, hidden behind a large, hanging chalkboard with a menu on it. Half the items were crossed out. Roxas and Sora lingered to look at the selection while Riku went up to the counter.

"Riku, buddy," a familiar voice greeted. "You came to visit me. And here I thought you'd forgotten about me."

"Lea," Riku greeted. Hands, covered in thick black gloves, appeared—arms resting on the counter. "What've you got left?"

Sora and Roxas rounded the side of the cart, and Sora _felt_ his twin tense beside him.

The guy—Lea? —was tall, and lanky, and pale. Green eyes were lined in purple eyeliner, little black marks underneath. The liner was smudged a little. His hair was mostly covered by a black bandana with flames, but what Sora could see was bright unnatural red, with natural tight curls, and pulled back into a ponytail.

"Who's this?" Lea asked, eyes roved over to Sora and then beyond.

"My new neighbours," Riku replied. "This is Sora and—"

"Roxas." The redhead was the one who had spoken. His voice had been soft, almost breathless. Almost disbelieving. Green eyes were locked on the blond's face.

Roxas pulled a face. "What are you, stalking me?"

Lea stood back, gave a sly grin. "It's written on your snooty coffee cup, underneath the barista's phone number and the message ' _call me_ '.

Sora looked at his twin. Roxas looked down at his cup and flushed when he saw the message. "Shut up!"

Lea snickered. "I've got the stuff to make about fifty smores, couple chicken, few veggie, a lamb and a squid." He glanced at Roxas again. "Ah, fuck it. I'll just make them all. It's nearly time to close up anyway."

"What exactly is it you do?" Roxas asked suspiciously.

"Flame-grill skewers and sell them to the hungry pedestrians," he replied.

"You set stuff on fire for a living," the blond said dubiously.

"And they say perfect jobs don't exist," Lea said with a grin. "You gonna talk my ear off all night _Rock-sass_ , or let me cook us all dinner?" He didn't wait for a response, just moved behind the big metal case Sora assumed was the broiler. "Riku get back here and pass me the skewers from the fridge. There's bench 'round the side for your twins."

Sora grabbed Roxas' arm and dragged him around to the bench. "You okay?" He whispered.

"Not here," his twin replied shortly.

He nodded, turned back to the cart. "Can I have a smore too, Riku?"

Lea laughed. "Whose cart is this, mine or Riku's?" He teased. "Tell him what you want on it— _Riku_ will make it for you."

Sora stood up, moving over to the side of the cart. "What've you got?"

Riku chuckled. "Let's see… Marshmallows, three different kinds of chocolate, hazelnuts, fudge, salted caramel, pineapple, pretzels and crackers."

He grinned. "Sounds great."

"So what do you want on it?"

"Yes."

Riku laughed. "Alright. You're helping stack then."

Sora and Riku made _The Best Smore Ever_ ™, laughing with each other and arguing about the correct stacking order of ingredients. When they finished, Sora proudly held their creation in a pair of tongs and turned to hand it over to Lea. He paused when he saw them.

Roxas was standing close to Lea, watching his face as they spoke in low murmurs. The redhead was mostly concentrating on the skewers held in each hand, holding them in the flames—but every so often he would turn his head and give Roxas a smile. Something warm, and soft, and intimate—something Sora didn't have a name for.

"Lea," Riku called. Sora almost told him to stop. To not interrupt them.

But Lea didn't look away. "If it's done, give it to Roxas. My hands are kinda full right now."

Roxas held a hand out—Sora carefully handed him the tongs. He turned to Riku, smiled. "Bit crowded. Wanna sit down?"

Riku nodded, heading around the cart and took a seat on the bench. "So. Bit of a sweet-tooth?"

Sora grinned back at him. "Whatever gave you that impression?"

He smiled softly. "Just a hunch."

Roxas appeared, holding a cardboard box full of sticky sauce-covered skewers of food. "Dinner's up. Your smore will take a little longer."

Sora scooted aside to give his other room to sit down, pressing right up against Riku's leg. They sat and ate in hungry silence. The sauces mostly tasted like char at that point, but the meat was well-cooked. When the last of the skewers was picked clean, dropped back into the cardboard box, and Sora was digging into his smore, Roxas turned.

"So. How do you two know each other?" He asked, looking between Riku and Lea, who was packing up the cart for the night.

"Lea goes to our school," Riku answered, "when he's not suspended for setting fires in the science lab, at least."

Lea gave a devilish grin. "It was only a week this time. Vexen didn't have enough evidence."

"Then we'll see you Monday," Riku replied. He stood. "I'll let you finish packing up. I gotta buy groceries." He glanced at Sora. "You two can stay with Lea, or come along."

"We'll stay."

Sora glanced up at his twin. He sighed, and nodded. "Yeah. We'll stay."

Riku nodded, and headed off downhill. Sora watched him go, disappointed.

"So, which one of you is older?" Lea asked.

"Doesn't matter," Roxas said sourly. "We're twins."

Sora grinned victoriously. "Me. It's me."

Lea laughed. "So they named your brother Sora, then they arranged his name and stuck an ' _x_ ' in the middle to give you yours?"

"Your parents named you ' _Axel Lea'_ ," Roxas replied with a huff.

"True."

"So… do your parents own this cart?"

"No," Lea answered quietly. "I don't know who they were. City council owns the cart, they pay me to come out here on weekends and serve food. I get to keep my apartment, everybody's happy."

"Except the people that have to keep paying for the damage you do to the science lab," Sora added.

"No, not them," Lea agreed, amused. "Step out _Rock-sass_ ," he said, "I've gotta close everything up and wheel it back to the station."

"But what about Riku?" Sora asked.

"We're hardly gonna get on the train without him," Lea said, rolling his eyes. "He'll know where we've gone."

"I still think we should wait for him," he argued.

"Save the argument," Riku said, walking back up the street. There was a woven basket slung over his shoulder. "I'm here. We can all go up to the station together." He adjusted the strap of his basket. "Need a hand with that, Lea?"

"But you've got your stuff," Sora pointed out, concerned.

"We manage it every weekend," Lea said, shrugging.

One of his hands grabbed one end of the handle—Riku's grabbed the other. Together they angled it up a bit to rest on the back wheels and they began to cart it up the street. Sora shrugged at Roxas, and moved down the back to give it a push from the other end. The four of them got it up to the train station. Lea opened a roller door and slid the cart inside between a couple others, then pulled it back down and locked the handle into place.

"Back to good old Nemo then?" He asked, long limbs moving up to stretch out his worked muscles. Assuming he had any on that beanpole frame of his.

Sora nodded, yawning. It was barely sunset, but he felt tired already.

"You live on the Peninsula then?" Roxas asked, fishing out their tickets from earlier.

"Yeah," Axel replied. "Saves me waking up at stupid o'clock in the morning just to go to school."

"I feel that," Sora said, stifling yawn. Sleep was great.

He heard Riku's soft chuckle just behind him. "Come on. There should be a train coming soon."

Sora nodded. He leaned on Roxas, letting his other hold up his weight. Eventually, they made it to the train platform—the train was there waiting for them. It puffed to life just as they stepped on the platform. Once they were inside the compartment, the whistle screeched and the doors began to close.

Sora dozed off on the train home, listening to the other three talk to one another.

 _"Sora," a familiar voice said, grabbing his hand to stop him._

 _"-?" He asked uncertainly. "What?"_

 _"You should let me go first. That way one of us will have a better idea of what it's like in there. I'll be able to help you out."_

 _"But… we shouldn't let - stay in there longer than she has to."_

 _"Sora, it's okay. - went with her. I'm sure he's keeping an eye on her."_

 _Sora sighed, disappointed. "How long should I give you?"_

 _"One day."_

 _"A whole day? Xehanort could do anything in that time?"_

 _"Fine. Twelve hours. At least. Give me the time."_

 _"Exactly twelve hours. Now let's do this."_

Roxas shook him awake. He jumped, looking around. "Sora, come on. We're here."

He rubbed his eyes and sat up. They were parked outside Cloud's house. He unbuckled his seatbelt. "Thank you Riku," he mumbled. "See you."

"Goodnight Sora."

Roxas helped his twin into the house. Sora watched the headlights turn into the driveway next door until his eyes slipped closed again.


	5. Contention

When they got on the bus Monday morning, Riku was already in a seat. He was sitting sideways, turned to chat with the guy behind him. It took Sora a moment to recognise Lea, his hair straightened into a mane of scarlet spikes, half-hidden under the hood of one of the Club Thirteen jackets.

There were no spare seats, and Lea happened to be sitting across the aisle from Hayner. Sora stopped and glanced at Roxas, who was giving Lea a cold glare.

The redhead looked confused and unhappy at the attitude from the blond. "Do you want to sit?" He asked uncertainly.

"Not with you," Roxas snapped, his voice ice cold.

Lea recoiled slightly. His eyes swept down the bus, looking for any other seat. He gave an annoyed grunt, "Dawn. Shove over." Once Riku moved his legs, Lea vaulted over the back of his seat. He settled, then yanked the hood further over his head so his face was shrouded in darkness.

Sora gave his twin a confused look as he moved into the window seat the redhead had vacated for them. Roxas didn't answer, merely turned his attention to Hayner and fell easily into conversation. Sora spent the ride in unhappy silence.

When they got off the bus, Roxas ran off in one direction, and Lea stalked off in the other.

"Did something happen?" Riku asked, coming to stand beside him.

"Not that I know of," Sora answered. "What happened Saturday night after I fell asleep?"

"Nothing. They were getting on well." Riku shoved his hands in his pockets.

Sora sighed. It was just as he thought then – Roxas was acting that way on purpose. And knowing his brother as well as he did, he could suspect the reason why. He sighed again. "Come on, I want to put my stuff away before Home Room."

Riku led the way through the halls until they reached their locker. "How was your Sunday?"

"It was okay," Sora replied. "Me and Roxas just hung out around the house. Didn't spot you next door."

"Yeah, I drove over to Lea's. He was feeling a bit jumpy."

"Was not." The drawling voice of the redhead interrupted. They'd reached their locker, and there was Lea rummaging through 813.

"You finished having your sulk yet?" Riku asked. The words were teasing, but he was clearly concerned.

"Who was sulking?" Lea got out a shabby, somewhat scorched copy of the chemistry textbook. "As if I'd let some heartless blond get to me."

"Hey. That blond is my little brother," Sora piped up. "Watch what you say."

Lea glanced at him. "Right." He slammed his locker closed. "You coming to class, Riku?"

"In a bit. I'll walk Sora to class first."

The redhead huffed. "Whatever. See you in home room.

"Don't set anything on fire!" Riku called after him.

"No promises."

He shook his head, concerned. "Your brother really got to him. I haven't seen him this bad since… well. In a while." He sighed and took Sora to homeroom, promising to bring his books to Lit class.

The brunet sat glaring at his twin. "What's up with you this morning?"

"I'm fine, Sora," Roxas replied impatiently.

"You can't _lie_ to me, Roxas," he hissed.

The blond glared. We can talk about this later, Sora.

Later turned out to be lunchtime. Sora was just heading back to the locker, talking with Riku, when his twin stormed past. His hand grabbed Sora, who found himself being dragged backwards by his scowling brother. "See you in Study Hall!"

He found himself plonked down on the ground beneath a large weeping willow. "He's in all my classes!"

"Lea?" Sora guessed.

"Yes!"

"What's going on?" He asked tiredly. "You two were getting along fine on Saturday night." His twin was silent, glaring sullenly at the roots of the tree. "Oh. This is about Aqua and T—"

"Don't!" Roxas snarled. "Shut up, Sora!"

"Okay! Okay… Ven, I'm sorry." He tugged his other into his arms. "You'll be able to trust again, and you can stay with me until you do."

"Sorry to interrupt." The twins whipped around to see Riku approaching them. "This is our normal spot. Lea's going to be here any minute, and he's in a foul mood. I'd avoid him, if I were you."

"Why should **we** go?" Roxas snarled. "We were here first!"

"If you want to fight Lea about it, feel free. I'm sure he'd love an argument. Or a fight."

"Roxas, come on. We don't even have our lunch yet," Sora said, tugging on his twin's arm. "Or you have to put up with me complaining about how hungry I am."

Roxas gave their neighbour a scathing look, and let Sora drag him off. Sora looked back at Riku – he was sitting among the tree roots, opening a brown paper bag with his lunch.

They didn't mention it when they sat together in Study Hall, answering Mr Merlin's questions about the first part of Hercules. They worked peacefully, at least until Lea dropped into the space beside them.

"Kicked out of Math already?" Riku asked, without looking up from his workbook.

" _Setzer_ has no sense of humour," Lea replied. "Hi Sora."

"Hi." He looked up at the redhead. "Not that I'm saying you have to leave but we're trying to do our homework assignment?"

"You kidding? Dawn's been drawing you for ten minutes."

"Lea" Riku snapped. His cheeks were pinked with a blush.

Sora tilted his head. "Can I see?"

Riku was reluctantly – but since he already knew about it, there was no reason to keep it hidden. He took the notebook in hand and looked at the picture. It was unfinished, the vague shape of Young Hercules, and a figure beside him holding a large key.

The shape of the figure was undetailed, but the face had been carefully sketched in. Except…

"This isn't me." It was Ven, from when he was still using his own name. "It's Roxas."

Riku just nodded, but Lea ripped the book out of his hands. "He hasn't even done the hair yet, how can you tell?"

"I know my other."

Riku took the book back from the redhead. "Leave it alone, Axel."

Lea pulled a face at his given name. "I don't know how you pass any of your classes, Dawn. You never do any work."

"Neither do you."

"I already own my own business, what's the point in doing school work?"

"Why don't you drop out then?" Sora asked, not looking up from his homework book. A sudden silence followed, which had him raising his eyes. "What?"

Lea was staring at him. "I've never thought about it," he said eventually. "It's just been a thing I had to do. Go to school, go to work, go home."

"Maybe that' why you keep setting science labs on fire," Sora replied. "You're stuck in your routine.

There was an odd, high-pitched squealing in his ears, and when it faded out the class bell was ringing. He closed his book, confused. "That went quick."

"We better get to the gym," Lea said, getting to his feet and stretching. "You coming, Dawn?"

"Just a minute," he replied. "I'm going to put our books away."

Lea glanced between them and rolled his eyes. "Fine. See you later."


	6. Dance Class

Roxas was in a foul temper when Sora met with him in the locker room. He was scowling, tugging his clothes angrily into place. He gave him a concerned look, but knew his expression said that he didn't want to talk about it. The older twin just dressed in his sports uniform and followed his grumpy brother out to the gym.

Their coach this week was a tall, androgynous man with pink hair who introduced himself as Marluxia. "For the next two weeks, I'll be teaching you ballroom dance, so you don't embarrass our school's reputation at the Winter's Ball." Sora looked around in confusion, but nobody else seemed surprised. "All of you get into pairs."

He glanced around at everyone's expressions. Wouldn't it be weird to have boys practicing with boys? But nobody looked at all surprised or uncomfortable, they were already pairing up without complaint. He noticed a distinct absence of Lea's bright red hair, and spotted Roxas secretly slipping away to hide behind the bleachers.

"This happens every year," Riku's voice announced beside him. Sora turned to look at him with a smile. "Would you like to be my partner?"

"Yeah!" As they moved into place, facing each other at the end of the line, he noticed there actually wasn't anyone else for him to pair up with.

Some sort of slow music began, and the line of boys began dancing together. They all seemed to know the steps, and moved in sync – all sort of robotically. Riku was a little slower, glancing at the rest to see what they were all doing.

"Did you used to dance with Axel?" Sora asked.

Riku looked back at him, faltering in the steps. "Uh. No. Lea always hides behind the bleachers to get out of it. I had to sit out and watch."

"Oh."

They were silent, until they both got the hang of the dance. Once they knew what they were doing, Riku led him around the gym with surprising grace. Sora found himself looking up into his friend's eyes, his face feeling oddly hot and flushed.

He startled when Marluxia clapped his hands, bringing the room to a stop. He dismissed them and Sora rushed off without speaking to Riku, not sure why he felt flustered.

Roxas was giving him a concerned sort of frown when he got out of the locker room, but they didn't talk. Silent, they hurried to their bus to get home. They sat behind Hayner and Pence, and his twin chattered to them easily. Sora was quiet, intensely aware of Riku sitting alone at the back of the bus. Where was Lea?

They got off at their houses, and Riku called good afternoon to them both as he went through his gates. Sora stumbled through a reply and hurried back to their room, embarrassed.

"What's **wrong** with me?" He whined when he felt his twin sit on the edge of his mattress.

Roxas laughed at him. "Nothing, Sora. You've got a crush, that's all."

He raised his head to peer at the blond. "A crush?"

"Uh-huh."

"On _Riku_?" Somehow the idea seemed completely and totally preposterous.

Roxas laughed again, reaching over to ruffle his hair. "Yes. A crush on Riku."

"But he's my friend!"

"As if _that's_ ever stopped you before," he snorted.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean, you acted the exact same with K-."

A high-pitched squealing filled his ears, blocking out the name his other said. But when Sora asked ' _who?_ ', Roxas couldn't seem to remember who he'd meant.

Sora nudged him. "Come on. Let's go make dinner."

 _Sora was dreaming about living on Destiny Islands again. But Riku was there, and they were small children – five or six years old. They were wandering through the sands, talking to one another about the sorts of things that were interesting to children. They kept bringing up the girl at the mayor's house, but every time they said the name, he couldn't remember what it was._

 _"_ _The paopu fruit are starting to sprout," Riku said, leading Sora over to a big, curved tree. There were small green bulbs nestled right up under the leaves. "They'll be ready to pluck in a few months."_

 _"_ _Riiiiiiku," he whined, clinging to his best friend's arm. "What does a paopu fruit taste like?"_

 _"_ _I don't know," the boy answered. "Mom says there's a secret about the paopu fruit we're not allowed to learn until we get older."_

 _"_ _Riku, can we try one together?"_

 _"_ _Sora…"_

"Sora!"

He jolted awake to see Roxas standing beside his bed, hands on his hips. "You're going to miss the bus if you're not quick!"

He whined as he tumbled out of his bed. "How is it every day, no matter how early I wake up, I'm always running late for school?" He complained.

His other threw him a set of clothes. "I'll make you some toast. Get ready."

He was still munching on the toast when the bus pulled up. He finished off the last of the crusts and followed his brother up to the bus. Their normal seat was free, across the aisle from Hayner. It was when the bus pulled away that Sora noticed that Riku hadn't gotten on with them.

He turned around, and counted the number of black hoods he could see. Lea wasn't there either. He glanced at Roxas, but his twin was happily chatting to Hayner, and hadn't noticed their friends' absence. Well… he guessed his other didn't really consider Riku and Lea _friends_.

Sora worried at his lip for the rest of the bus ride. He almost ran to his locker, to check if Riku was there waiting for him. He wasn't, and when Sora flicked open the door his bagged lunch was missing too.

Neither Riku or Lea showed up at all that day.

Anybody he asked if they knew if Riku was sick or something didn't seem to know who was talking about. Even when he reminded them his name was 'Dawn'.

At lunch, he mentioned to Roxas that Riku and Lea was missing. Hayner snorted: "Axel? He probably got suspended for setting something on fire again."

Roxas disappeared at gym again, leaving Sora to sit alone on the bleachers while Marluxia started didn't different music tracks and the students danced in a slightly disturbing unison.

He didn't mention it to Roxas again, but told himself if Riku wasn't at school the next day, he'd find him and bring him home.


	7. Absence

Riku wasn't on the bus again in the morning. An anxious feeling twisted up in Sora's stomach, and he gave his other a look. The blond seemed to recognise that something was up, and gave him a steady nod. They'd talk about it when they had a private moment.

Roxas left Hayner and Pence to whatever their pre-school ritual was, following Sora through the hallways.

"What's worrying you?" His other asked as they reached Riku's locker.

"Riku and Lea aren't here again," he said, as he opened the lock. He stuffed his books in the locker.

"Axel probably got expelled again," Roxas gave an indifferent shrug.

"You share all your classes with him," Sora pressed, "did anything happen that would get him expelled?"

Roxas opened his mouth. His brows furrowed in thought, closed it. He gave a low hum, then shrugged. "Setzer kicked him out of math class. But no. Nothing serious." He turned. "If he's not coming, I'm using his locker. I'm not carrying my bag around all day again." He glared at the lock for a moment. He tried 3-4-73, then 3-47-3, then finally unlocked it with 34-7-3. He snorted. "I knew it."

"Knew what?" Sora asked, as Roxas shoved a few ratty notebooks aside to stuff his bag in.

"His lock-code is 'Fire'." He closed it and locked it again. "Come on. It's time for home-room. We'll talk more at lunch, yeah?"

Sora brought all the wrong books to his classes, getting lost most of the time. He hadn't realised how much he'd realised on Riku to get him through the school day.

At lunch, he found Roxas and led him out to the weeping willow. They sat hidden in the curtain of leaves, and Sora stared up at the odd knobbly face in the bark until he could arrange his thoughts properly.

"I'm worried about Riku," he worked out eventually. Roxas gave him a silent, level stare. "Everyone around here acts like they have no idea who I'm talking about. It's almost like he doesn't exist at all…"

Roxas hummed. "Well you didn't imagine him up. I've seen him, and Axel knows him. You know he's real. He's just not very friendly with most of the school." He leaned back, watching Sora quietly for a moment. "We'll go next door after school, okay? And if Sephiroth doesn't know where he is, we'll take my board to the station and go interrogate Axel until he coughs up where Riku is."

Sora beamed at his other. "Great idea! Thanks, Roxas!"

The rest of the day seemed to pass in a blur. It was like it passed in the space of a few blinks – he wondered if he'd actually dozed off in his classes without Riku to keep him awake. But eventually they were getting off the bus in front of their houses.

Sephiroth was peering over their fence again, and when they asked him where Riku was, he dismissed them with an annoyed: "I don't know, or care."

Neminem city it was. They changed out of their school uniform, pocketed some money from their piggy-banks, dug out Roxas' old longboard and left. He stood in front of his brother, who skated them forward with a few deft pushes with his feet.

It took ages to get there, and it was deep twilight by the time they reached the city across the bay. Something about the city, clinging to the edge of the cliffside, bathed in the pink-orange sunlight seemed all at once so familiar and very wrong. He glanced at Roxas who, by the set-stone look of his expression felt the same.

They got off the train and left the station, weaving between the crowd until they stood on the road. "I'll go intimidate Axel into finding out what he knows," Roxas volunteered. "Why don't you take the tram and check at that art shop? Check if they've seen him."

A thought occurred to Sora, that it really should be him checking on Lea. Something tugged at him, prompting him to do that. Roxas could make the trip down on his skateboard, it wouldn't take him as long.

But he shook the thought off. Roxas and Lea were due a big fight, and he didn't really want to be the one hanging around when they had it.

He walked with his other as far as the Starmunny, and then climbed down the staircase to make his way to Riku's art shop. He opened the door and stepped in – the blonde girl behind the counter lifted her head as he entered.

"Hello," she called in a soft voice. "You're Sora, right?"

He rubbed his head. "Uh. Yeah."

She smiled at him gently. "My name is Naminé. How can I help?"

"I'm looking for someone," he said, approaching the counter. "Taller than me, long grey hair."

She watched him for a long moment. "You mean… Riku, I suppose."

He startled. Someone actually knew who he was talking about. "Yes!" He gave an eager nod. "Have you seen him?"

She nodded. "He was here earlier, he went to walk my other home."

He perked up easily. "Where did they go? Was he coming back here after?"

She shook her head, soft blonde hair settling across her shoulders. "He was going back to Axel's place afterward."

"Great!" Roxas would make sure he stayed there until he got back. "Thanks, Naminé!" He turned to go.

"Sora," she called, halting him in place. "What you're doing…. What you're feeling for him, it's not supposed to happen."

He turned to give her a confused look. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

"You. And Riku." She looked at him, intense and sort of sad. "It's not supposed to be him."

Something twisted inside him, and he scowled. His hand clenched, but grasped nothing. "You're not making any sense."

She reached out to grip he sleeve. "That's not what you came here for. We all need you to fulfil your purpose."

He took a step away from her. "I guess you think you can psyche me out by saying really random stuff!" He turned away and ran away from her, fighting off the strange feeling twisting up his stomach. He needed to find where Riku was, that was the only important thing right now.

"Sora, please…" She called, but he was too far away to hear her after that.


	8. Reunion

Sora felt panicky and out of sorts as he ran from the art shop, scrambling up the almost-vertical stairs to the upper street level. He felt something strange building in his chest.

He made his way down to Lea's cart, relaxing as he spotted Roxas there. His other, his face in a sour mask, was leaning on the counter and talking to whoever was inside – probably snarking at Lea again.

He slowed his pace, the feeling in his chest growing. He reached his twin, and a weak "Ven" sighed from his lips. Not loud enough for their friend inside the cart to hear.

Roxas turned to him, but before he could respond, there was a familiar voice coming up behind him. "Rock- _sass_ , I got your snobby, overpriced bean juice." Lea swept past with a Starmunny cup. "Hey, Sora."

Sora could only turn back to the cart. If Lea hadn't been here, then Roxas must have been talking to…

"Riku…"

Their neighbour was stepping out from the cart, and looked up at the sound of his name. "Sora."

"Riku's here!" He felt his eyes welling up with tears. "I looked for you!" He said, clinging to his arm. "I looked everywhere for you!"

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Lea giving his other a worried look, which Roxas made no secret of ignoring.

He felt one of Riku's arms close around him in a gentle embrace. "Hey," he said soothingly. "It's okay, I'm here."

Sora weakly beat one fist against Riku's chest. "Where have you **been**? You weren't at school, you weren't at home, and I even checked that art shop and you **weren't there**!"

Riku's other hand took his fist, stopped the barely-felt assault on his chest. "I've been around. I didn't mean to make you worried…"

Sora pulled away and wiped at his face. "I kept asking everyone about you, but nobody knew who I was _talking_ about!"

"Man," Lea said, moving past them to go into his cart. "You think after going to our school for a whole year, they'd bother to learn who you are."

Sora had never known that Riku hadn't grown up here with everyone else. He didn't get to ask a question, though.

"You two hungry?" Lea asked. "I'm about to pick up for the night – I can cook you up whatever's left."

In answer to that, Sora's stomach gave an eager growl. They all laughed, and Lea got to work flame-grilling their dinner.

Sora sat down on the bench, holding tight onto the sleeve of Riku's Club Thirteen jacket so he couldn't go far. "Where have you two **been**?"

Roxas scoffed. "These two have been playing hooky!"

Riku didn't even look ashamed as he turned to look at hm in disbelief. "You were the one who gave us the idea about it, Sora."

"I did not!" He protested. "I wouldn't tell anyone to skip school!"

"True," Lea said, bringing over a box of skewers. "You told me to drop out." He pulled a metal grate down to signal he was closed. "I suppose you could call it a trial run."

Sora turned back to Riku, hand clenching in his sleeve. "Riku… You're not dropping out, are you?"

He shook his head, pushing his glasses up his nose. "No. I'm not."

"What about you, Hot-head?" Roxas taunted. "You giving up already?"

Lea, leaning against the side of his card, gave the blond a lazy smirk. "Can't get rid of me that easily, Roxas. I just keep coming back."

"Like a weed," he deadpanned, and took a swig of coffee.

Sora rolled his eyes to Riku and, between the three of them, they finished off the food.

"We'd better get back to Nemo," Riku said, effortlessly tossing their mess into a nearby trashcan. "My car's at the station. You two need a lift?"

"Yeah, thanks," Sora said, before Roxas could argue. The way back home was all uphill and it was already dark.

Roxas gave an irritated huff, but didn't argue. "It's decided then. We'll all go together."

As Sora and Roxas waited outside their house for the bus the next morning, Riku's car pulled up on the curb. The passenger window wound down and a familiar head of scarlet spikes hung out. "Want a lift?" He yelled over the noisy engine.

Sora gave his other a pleading looks – Roxas just gave an annoyed sigh and headed over to the car. "Thanks, _Riku_ ," he said pointedly, not bothering to look at the car's other occupant.

"You're welcome." He sounded amused as he pulled the car back out onto the road. "Morning, Sora."

The brunet finished off his yawn and gave his friend a smile in the rear-view mirror. "hi, Riku."

"I'll just talk to myself then," Lea drawled.

Roxas looked between the two occupants of the front seat.

"Are you two dating?" He demanded suspiciously.

Lea and Riku exchanged a look, and the two of them laughed. Loudly.

When they calmed most of the way, Lea wiped under his eyes. "You're going to make me ruin my eyeliner."

Riku snickered a few more times. "No," he said. "Lea and I are both single."

The rehead turned to give Roxas a lazy grin. "Why? You interested?"

The blond scoffed. "No. I'll leave Riku to Sora."

"Roxas!" Sora yelped. He covered his face, mortified.

Riku was silent as Lea nudged him with his elbow. "You're in, Dawn." A faint blush dusted his nose and cheeks, but he seemed to know better than to rise to his friend's bait.

They parked in the back lot of the school and Sora realised: for the first time, he was _EARLY_ to school. He climbed out of the car and looked around the almost-empty school campus.

Sora felt a gently nudge to his elbow. "Locker?"

He nodded and smiled at Riku. The lenses of his glasses were dark in the morning light and, suddenly, he hated it. He reached up and took them right off his face.

Riku stared at him, blood rushing to his face. "Sora," he gasped.

"Why do you even wear these, anyway?" he asked, balancing them upside down on his nose. The light was significantly darker, but he didn't notice the difference in focus.

"I need them to read," Riku replied, reaching over to take them off his face.

"Then why do you wear them all the time then, huh?" He asked, putting his hands on his hips. "Huh?"

"Because he likes to hide behind them." Sora jumped, having forgotten Lea was even there. "His eyes can't lie, right Dawn?"

Riku gave an awkward nod.

Sora elbowed him. "Lie? And just who were you trying to fool?"

He felt strange, a high-pitched noise squealing in his ears. He shook his head to clear it.

Riku touched his shoulder, concerned. "Sora? Are you okay? You spaced out for a moment there."

"I'm fine," he said. "And I'm still upset with you. I thought something had **happened** to you!"

Riku looked guilty, but it was Lea who spoke next. "Yeah, I bet you were all choked up about **me** too," he drawled.

"Everyone thinks you were suspended again," Roxas replied indifferently.

Lea just laughed and headed towards the back doors of the school. Riku followed with Sora, Roxas trailing behind them with obvious reluctance. Sora had left all his stuff in the locker yesterday, his mind too preoccupied with tracking down their friends to remember to get any books to take home. Not that he ever had much homework left after study hall.

Riku put away his bagged lunch and their shared copy of Hercules from the pockets of his Club Thirteen hoodie.

Sora felt his other tense beside him, and when he glanced over, he saw why. Lea had opened his locker and began shoving his things in, only he'd paused with an unfamiliar notebook in his hand. He flipped it open and looked over his shoulder at Roxas. "I know you're eager to get rid of me, Roxas, but two days is a _little_ over-eager to move into my territory, don't you think?"

Roxas snatched his notebook back. " **You** weren't using it," he said, agitated. "And it's your own fault for having such an easy lock code!"

Sora sighed. Why couldn't those two just get along?

"Whatever," Lea muttered, closing his locker with irritation. "I'm going to get breakfast. See you at lunch, Dawn."

"Later, Axel," Riku said as he stalked away.

"Hot-head gets breakfast?" Roxas asked, helping himself to the locker Lea had left open.

"Well if he gets here early enough, the cafeteria is still serving."

"How come?" Sora asked, concerned.

"… He's a ward of the state. The council subsidises breakfast and lunch at the cafeteria."

"… Ward of the state?" Roxas asked uncertainly.

"Yeah," Riku answered. "He used to be in a foster home – since before he could remember. But he became a Problem Case, so the council gave him his cart and an apartment so he'd stop causing trouble for the other kids in his Home."

"What happened to his parents?" Roxas asked in a soft voice that Sora hadn't heard for ages.

"I don't know if he even knows," he said quietly. He shook his head. "Don't tell him I told you. I mean, everyone knows, but you didn't hear it from me."

"Yeah." His other paused for a long time, then quietly closed and locked locker 813. "I'm gonna go wait for Pence and Hayner. See you in home room, Sora."


	9. Rising Tension

The rest of the week passed in an easy routine. Sora would wake up with just enough time to get the bus. Riku didn't catch the bus, but he was always waiting for Sora out the front of the school.

They went to their locker, Roxas following behind them. His other helped himself to Lea's locker – and by the third day, one of the selves had been cleaned for his use.

They'd go to home room and classes. Roxas would always have something new to complain that Lea had done to disrupt their lessons. They'd eat lunch in the cafeteria with Hayner and Pence – Sora would look out for Lea, make sure he got lunch before he headed out again, no doubt to meet Riku at their normal spot.

In gym, Sora would dance with Riku. It always made him feel flustered and awkward, but Riku never said anything about it. Roxas and Lea always snuck off without being noticed by Marluxia.

On Friday, Hayner invited them to play Struggle at the beach again – and his other accepted right there. He hadn't checked with Sora first. Not that he'd had plans or anything.

"Didn't you do that last weekend?"

"Yeah, we do it every weekend," Pence answered.

"Don't you get bored?"

Hayner and Pence stared at him as if they couldn't understand what his question was. A high-pitched squealing filled his ears, and when it cleared, the bell to go back to class sounded. Lunchtime couldn't be over…

"Sora?" Roxas asked, touching his shoulder. "You okay?"

"Something weird is happening to me, Ven…"

"Falling asleep at school? That's hardly weird for you, Sora."

"Is that what happened?" He mumbled, getting to his feet.

"Duh."

He accepted the answer. It made sense – and it's not like he had a better explanation. They walked back to their lockers together, though he knew Riku would bring his books to study hall anyway.

"So we're going to the beach with Hayner and Pence again?"

"Yeah. And Olette, she'll be there too." Roxas glanced at him. "Is that okay?"

He nodded. "Yeah. It's fine, Roxas. I didn't have anything planned anyway."

His other stared at him for a long moment. "But you _wanted_ to hang out with Riku."

He shrugged, feeling his face flush with heat, he didn't think about **why**. "I don't even know if he's got plan already."

"If you're talking about our dear friend Riku," said Lea, who appeared behind Roxas, reaching directly over the blond head to grab a scuffed notebook and a pristine math textbook. "No, he's not doing anything this weekend." He paused. "Well, we're going suit-shopping after the dinner rush, but that's plenty of time to whisk him to the beach so you two can watch Hayner and Rock- _sass_ play Struggle."

"Eavesdrop much?" Roxas snapped, temper sparking – at being ignored or reached over, Sora couldn't decide.

"Locker invade much?" He turned away and began to walk off. "See you in class, Blondie."

Roxas' temper snapped. He slammed the locker closed. "My _name_ is **ROXAS**!" He shouted. Half the hallway stopped and turned to look, including Lea. "R-O-X-A-S! _Got it memorised?_ "

Those last words almost seemed to punch the redhead. He took a step back, purple-lined eyes widening as they stared at Roxas. A tension crackled between them that Sora couldn't even begin to name. It dragged on, nobody in the hallways seemed to want to move to break the moment.

But it did break. A deep, overly calm voice interrupted. "Axel."

The students seemed to scatter all at once. A tall man with silver hair stood in the doorway.

Lea looked stricken. He swallowed and turned to face him. "Principal Ansem."

"Making trouble again?"

"No, sir. We were just –"

The principal held up his hand, instantly silencing him. "Why don't we have this discussion in my office. We wouldn't want you to disturb the others, now would we?"

Lea bowed his head and tugged the spikes at the back of his head. "No sir." Without another word, he lifted his hood and followed the principal away.

"Roxas…"

"It'll be fine, Sora."

Lea reappeared during study hall, striding up to their table. His hood was still up, only the tip of his nose and lips were visible.

"Axel…"

"I've been suspended. Again."

"Shit. What did you do?"

"Messed with the wrong person." His expression, what little he could see of it, was blank. "I gotta get off the property."

"Take my keys."

"Already got 'em out of your locker. Want me to…?"

"Nah. I'll get the bus. Wait for me at –"

"Sephiroth's. I know. Worrywart." Lea strode off without another word.

"Is he… okay?"

Riku sighed and slid off his reading glasses. "Did he _seem_ okay, Sora?"

"… He's not going to do anything, is he?"

He sighed again. "Lea's as strong as he is fragile. He'll be in that mood for a few days, but he'll come out of it."

"Does this mean you'll be with him all weekend now?" Sora asked, unable to keep his voice from sounding disappointed.

Riku's eyebrows twitched up slightly in surprise. "No more than usual, I guess. He gets tetchy if I spent all the time with him. He says I'm overbearing."

"Oh…"

"Why do you ask?" Riku questioned, sliding his glasses back on.

"Roxas volunteered us to go meet Hayner at the beach again."

"Ah. Yeah. They go every weekend to play Struggle."

"Only… We went last weekend. Won't it be boring to play it over and over again?"

Riku looked at him over the rim of his glasses. There was something in his blue-green eyes, like Sora was surprising him.

"Sora Strife," he said, his voice soft, "you are something else."

A moment stretched between them, unnamed and undefined, but it made Sora's heart race faster.

Riku seemed to shake it off. "I guess most people are happy to spend their time doing the same thing over and over again. It seems strange to me, but they seem content enough to live like that."

"But not you."

He nodded. "There's an entire world out there. Until you came along, I only had Lea – just the two of us, too odd and unpredictable for a place like this." He sighed. "It's not important, really. But things have been better since you came."

"I'm not sure Lea would agree," Sora mumbled.

Riku gave a soft little laugh. "You'd be surprised." They worked in silence for a few minutes. Then Riku spoke again. "I can drive you to the station in the morning, if you like. I need to go to Neminem anyway – I'm meeting Lea after work."

"I'd like that." He felt suddenly shy. "Can I hang out with you two then?"

Riku smiled. "Good luck convincing your other. But yeah. I'm happy to have you, Sora."

He beamed at his friend, and then went back to his homework.

Roxas was angry about it, but he didn't complain. He knew that getting a lift from Riku saved them an otherwise long journey to Nemo station. But he apparently had no intention of speaking to him.

Riku sat behind them on the bus, but his other didn't acknowledge him at all. Roxas sat, leaning over the aisle to talk to Hayner and Pence. Sora spoke to him instead, about everything that came to mind.

As they got off the bus, Roxas came to a stop, his expression hardening to a glare. Sora looked around his shoulder and spotted Axel.

The redhead was leaning against Riku's gate, smoking a thinly rolled cigarette. His hair was damp – he'd washed the product out, and its curly mass was restrained in a ponytail. His eyeliner was neatly applied, including the two triangles under his eyes. Were they meant to be teardrops, he suddenly wondered.

"Hey Lea," Riku said, stepping around Roxas.

He stubbed out the cigarette, dropping it in an old tin can filled with sand. "Dawn." He stood up properly and stretched. "Cloud and Sephiroth had The Fight again. They left about an hour ago."

Riku gave a resigned sigh, but Sora frowned. "What do you mean, they _left?_ Where did they _go?_ "

Riku shrugged. "No idea. Somewhere they can fight it out in private."

"When will they be back?" Roxas asked, scowling.

"A week or so," he answered.

The twins glanced at each other. "… We'd better call Mom."


	10. Keyblade Masters

_"_ _Stop!"_

 _Riku came into view. "So, you've finally made it." A mocking smile crossed his face. It looked strange, like the muscles in his face were being pulled the wrong way. "About time. I've been waiting for you." He didn't move any closer, and the distance felt strange, new. Like they were used to being in each other's space. "We've always been rivals, haven't we? You've always pushed me, so I always pushed you."_

 _"_ _Riku…" His voice sounded_ so young.

 _Riku ignored him, continuing his speech. "But it all ends here. There can't be two Keyblade Masters."_

 _Sora shifted forward. "What are you talking about?" He shouted – his voice almost cracking._

 _"_ _Let the Keyblade choose its true master!" He held his hand up._

 _Sora felt his arms tugging forward, **something**_ _trying to escape his grip, to go to Riku's hand. As hard as he held on, it disappeared in flashes of light._

 _It appeared in Riku's hand. A large key with a big bulky yellow handle…_

Sora jolted awake, sitting up. Roxas was standing over the bed, clearly about to wake him up. "… Good morning."

"Morning, Ven." He slid his feet out of the bed. "Have I got time for break **fast**!" His last syllable dropped out in a shout, as the bed he was in tipped him out.

It occurred to him where he was. Cloud had locked and bolted the house before he left, and they'd slept on the back deck. Roxas had won the thumb wrestle for the outdoor couch, but Sora got the warm blanket and the hammock.

"Is there anything clean on the line?" Sora asked hopefully.

Roxas tossed a small bundle of clothes. "Not much. You'll have to wear your school shirt. We can buy some clothes – Mom sent us munny."

"Where are we going to _live_ , Roxas?"

"We're hanging out with our friends today. If we can't stay with one of them… Well, Mom **has** offered to pay for a hotel room in Neminem."

He nodded and dressed. It wasn't warm enough for winter time, but it was a warm enough day.

They decided to go next door and ask Riku if he minded taking them early. Sora knocked on the door and waited for him to answer.

What he didn't expect was Lea, wearing a pair of plaid pyjama pants and a shirt that had a number eight on it. He stared as he spotted them. He wasn't wearing eyeliner for the first time – his eyelashes were a pale ginger, hair loose in a curled mess.

Roxas cleared his throat. "Is Riku up?"

"… Making breakfast." He gestured them in and strode off deeper into the house. "Dawn! Your boyfriend is here!"

Sora followed him to the kitchen, his other following silently behind.

Lea walked back out of the kitchen, his footsteps going up the stairs. A moment later, the shower turned on.

"Morning Sora. Roxas. What's up?"

"Morning Riku!" He eagerly chatted to him about his night and morning as he finished making breakfast scramble. Lea reappeared just as he was serving up, dressed for work and eye makeup expertly applied.

"So, why are you here?" Lea asked between mouthfuls.

"We were going to ask if you were going into the station any earlier," Sora said carefully. "We have some extra shopping to do before we go to the beach."

Riku raised his eyebrows slightly. "Oh. Well. I can take you when I drive Lea to work, if you'd like."

"Actually, can we go early?" Lea asked, pushing away his cleared plate. " _Keyblade Masters IV_ is out and I wanted to grab a copy before I started prep for the day."

Sora's chest gave a strange twist. "Key… _Keyblade Masters_ …?"

"Oh man, there's a new game out?" Roxas asked, sounding uncharacteristically excited.

"… Yeah?" Lea didn't seem to know how to react to his sudden enthusiasm.

"It's my favourite game. Last Summer, Sora and I did a speedrun and finished _KM3_ 's Duet-Mode in 36 hours."

Sora's ears rang shrilly, but then it came back to him in waves. He and Roxas loved _Keyblade Masters_. Sometimes he even had weird dreams about it.

That explained his dream this morning, about Riku. …Right? It had to.

"Seems we're all avid players, then." There was something odd in Riku's tone of voice. Like he didn't know what they were talking about – even though his words made it obvious he did. He shook his head. "Yeah. Let me get ready, and I'll drive. Lea, wash the dishes. I don't want to come back on Monday and find out you've hidden them somewhere to get out of it."

Lea waved his hand in an elegant sort of gesture Sora noticed his other follow with his eyes. "It was one time."

"Six."

Lea grinned. "Fine. I'll do them, Go get ready."

Riku did and only when he was well out of hearing range did Lea move to pick up the dishes.

"Do you need a hand?" Sora asked tentatively, as he began to run the left sink with soapy water.

He glanced back at Sora over his shoulders, eyes carefully avoiding Roxas' direction. "No thanks," he said, his voice curling in amusement, "I've already got two."

"We could dry the dishes for you," Sora insisted.

"I've got it covered. Don't worry about it. You just sit there and look pretty until your boyfriend comes back."

"He's not my boyfriend," Sora sulked, slumping down in his seat.

"Coulda fooled me," Lea deadpanned. Roxas let out an amused snort, and Sora watched the redhead's shoulders tense. "I give it a week."

He washed the dishes silently, and Sora realised why he didn't need a hand. After he'd scrubbed them clean, he rinsed them with scalding hot water. They steamed dry as they sat in the dish rack.

"Doesn't that hurt your hands?" Roxas asked, his voice unusually soft and tentative.

"I hand-char skewers for a living and you ask if washing some dishes _hurt_ ," Lea replied mockingly.

"You're not wearing those gloves…"

Though the dishes were all finished, Lea still stood at the sink, his hands under the hot tap. "Why should I feel anything, Roxas? What was it you called me again? You remember. On Thursday afternoon, when you hid next to me in the gym." Sora watched Roxas' hands under the table as they clenched into white-knuckled fists – his face as impassive as ever. "Go on."

Roxas' face and voice were bland, uncaring. "A heartless bastard."

"That's right. If I don't have a heart, then I can't feel anything. What's a little _heat_ gonna do?"

Sora gave his other a stern look.

Roxas shifted guiltily. "I'm sorry I said that, Axel," he said, in the same soft voice as before. "I don't think you're heartless."

"Don't worry about me or my feelings, Roxas. Heat doesn't bother me." He turned towards the doorway just as Riku reappeared. "We ready to go now?"

The game store was surprisingly empty for the launch of a new game. Lea walked right up to the shelf and grabbed himself a copy. He stood reading the box, ignoring everyone.

Sora wandered over to the display, picking up one of the decorative keyblades. It was a silvery one, with a blue-and-yellow star at the end. The placecard said 'Oathkeeper'. The weight felt familiar in his hand.

"You're Skye then."

Sora turned around at the sound of Riku's voice behind him. He half-expected Riku to fight him for it, remembering his dream that morning.

But he didn't. Riku was watching him with a soft smile, something like pride shining in his eyes.

Sora opened his mouth to say something, but didn't get to. A familiar soft voice spoke behind them: "Riku."

They both turned. The blonde girl from the art store was there, standing with another girl.

"Naminé," Riku greeted, smiling. "Sorry, this is Sora Strife," he introduced. "Sora, this is Naminé and Kairi."

"Hi!"

The other twin, the one with darker hair was looking at Sora, admiring him. "Hey. You play _Keyblade Masters_ too?" She asked.

"Yeah. It's my favourite," Sora answered with a smile.

"Maybe sometime we can hang out and play together?" She suggested.

Sora grinned. "Yeah! We're usually too busy on the weekends, but maybe sometime during the holiday."

Sora had meant Roxas, but the two girls looked at Riku. Kairi's expression was disappointed – But there was something almost disapproving in Naminé's look. Sora remembered the strange conversation with her in the art shop and shivered. She'd warned Sora off Riku – was it because she wanted him for herself? He guessed so, but he couldn't help but feel there was something _else_ going on.

Riku cleared his throat uncomfortably, sliding his glasses on. "I'm sure Roxas wouldn't mind if you asked, Sora…"

"Well, if you change your mind," Kairi said softly. "Naminé works at the art shop…"

Sora smiled and nodded.

"Will we see you at the Winter Ball?" Naminé asked, looking at Sora intently.

"Uh. I guess so. Everyone in school seems to be going…"

"Dawn!" Lea's voice called from the door, "I've gotta go! You coming or what?"

Riku looked almost relieved by the interruption. "Excuse me, ladies. Gotta go."

"It was nice to meet you!" Sora said, and hurried to catch him.

"Sora!" Kairi called before he left the store. He turned back to look at her, confused. "Your keyblade," she said, pointing.

"Huh?" He glanced down, and startled when he saw Oblivion still in his hand. It had been so familiar, he'd forgotten it was there. He awkwardly placed it on the counter and hurried out after his friends.

"We've gotta get some shopping done," Roxas was saying to the other two. "Then we'll probably head down to the beach to meet the Hayner and our friends."

Riku nodded. "Okay. I'll be at Flamin' in the afternoon. Stop by after, let me know if you need a lift." He turned to Sora and gave a gentle smile. "Have a good afternoon, Sora."

"Later," Lea said, obnoxiously loud and left them all behind. Riku rolled his eyes and headed after him with a final wave.


	11. Vagrancy

Clothes shopping was awful – but they managed to get a few outfits, and more school shirts. They stuck them in a locker at the train station, and then ate cheap sandwiches while they waited for their friends.

Sora didn't enjoy the day at all. The wind on the beach was cold, especially when the clouds passed over. Hayner and Roxas were playing struggle the whole time and Pence and Olette were busy talking to each other. The subject of the Winter Ball came up often – Sora wondered if Riku was going.

He and Roxas hinted, but none of them seemed to be able to let them sleep over. Not looking forward to a freezing cold night on the back deck, Sora gloomily followed his other up to the tram.

"We'll get a hotel, Sora," Roxas reassured him.

"That's fine for the weekend," he said, "But what about school? We'll never make it in time."

Roxas sighed. "Come on. You're just grumpy because you're hungry. Let's go to Axel's for dinner and then talk about it, okay?"

It was busy when they reached the Flamin' cart, Riku was busy taking orders, and Lea never moved further from the flame grill than the storage fridge.

The twins waited at the back of the line, but the longer they waited, the more irritable Roxas became. Riku began dusting the chalkboard, taking off items as they sold out.

"Maybe we should go somewhere else," Sora said quietly.

Roxas grunted, but neither of them moved from the line. Both of them knew the contents of Roxas' wallet. Lea's cart was the cheapest, and they'd struggle even to feed themselves here.

Lea leaned over to say something to Riku, who nodded. He paid out the order he was taking, then announced to the rest of the line that they'd sold out of product and wouldn't be taking any more orders.

As the crowd grumbled in displeasure, Roxas muttered to Sora: "we might as well say hi."

The crowd cleared, except for the people waiting for their orders, and the twins headed up to the counter. The heat rolling off the cart was heavenly – Sora could understand why Riku's muscular arms, bared by his black vest, were covered in a light sheen of sweat.

"Evening Sora. Roxas." He leaned on the counter and smiled down at them. "Done with the beach already?"

"Got dark," Roxas replied.

"We're almost done for the night." He smiled down at Sora . "Want a s'more? My treat."

"Yes please," he said tiredly. At the least, he and his other can spit it and they'd have something to tide them over until they could sort everything out.

"Take a seat," Riku encouraged.

They did, and Sora was glad to be so close to the warmth.

He closed his eyes, leaning against his other. He fell into a light doze, waking up when Roxas nudged him in the side.

Riku was standing in front of them, holding a carton of skewers out for them to take.

He sat up, taking it carefully. "I thought you were all sold out?"

"We lied," Lea said, cleaning up inside the cart.

"Figured you'd be hungry and didn't want to run out." Riku sat next to Sora on the bench. He gasped in surprise when his arm brushed Sora's. "You're freezing!"

"It's cold," the brunet replied, hungrily eating the meat and vegetables from the skewers.

Riku unzipped his jacket. It was white and yellow, with zips to detach the sleeves from the shoulders. Sora sighed in relief as Riku settled it over his shoulders. It was blissfully warm, and soft inside.

"Thank you," he said gently.

"You're welcome." He leaned back on the bench. "So, am I taking you home tonight?"

"I don't know," Sora admitted quietly. "Cloud's gone. Mom wants us to get a hotel in the city."

"Most of them close this time of year," Lea said from inside the cart. "Wayfinder will probably have a room." Kairi and Naminé's parents own it."

Sora shivered at that. Naminé again?

"Where is it?" Roxas asked, handing Sora the last skewer.

"Just down from Castle Oblivion."

Roxas stiffened. "…Is there anywhere else?"

"Nah. Not really." Lea unplugged the power and climbed out of the cart to close it up.

Sora turned to Roxas. So, they both had their reasons for not wanting to go. Sora looked at his other – did they have to go home to the cold deck?

In reply, Roxas' brows drew together in a frown, and he gave Sora a look that said: _don't make me do this._

He sighed. No, he couldn't make his brother stay near the castle. Not without time to talk himself up to it. His eyes darted briefly to his other's pocket – where his wallet was kept – and then back up to his face. Did they have enough munny for food?

Roxas gave a slight shrug with one shoulder. It wouldn't be much, but they could get _some_. They'd have to ask Mom after the weekend for more munny – for school lunches or groceries.

Sora nodded, and turned to Riku saying: "we have to get groceries first, but can you drive us home?"

Riku was giving him a bewildered look – and so was Lea over his shoulder. "What?" Roxas demanded defensively.

"Nothing," Riku said quickly.

"It's that twin telepathy thing," Lea answered. "You two just had a whole conversation without saying a word!"

Roxas gave Sora a look, and he spluttered: "I'm not calling him that!"

Lea laughed. "Don't worry, Sora. I recognise the ' _you're a dick'_ look by now."

Riku shook his head in amusement. "Come on. Let's go buy your stuff."

Sora was sitting on the outdoor couch, huddled under a blanket and eating half a peanut butter sandwich he was splitting with his other. He'd given Roxas the warm blanket, since he still had Riku's jacket.

It was dark, not even the moon shone, its heart-shaped glow concealed behind clouds.

"Ven?" Sora said, eating the last of the sandwich.

"Yeah, Sora?

"It's really cold."

"I know."

"I'm miserable."

"I know. I'm sorry, Sora."

"It's not your fault, Ven."

They were silent for a while.

"Hey, Sora?"

"Yeah, Ven?"

"I don't know _why_ I'm afraid of Castle Oblivion."

Sora turned to look back at him. "Naminé makes me scared." And then he told his other about all she'd said to him in the art shop, about seeing her today in the game shop, and the odd feeling he'd got about **why** she was doing this.

"…Shit, Sora. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't tell anyone. What would I say?"

His twin sighed, and sat up to look at him. "Sora… Since we've moved here. Have you noticed things are a bit stra—"

He didn't finish. Movement caught their eyes. Lea rounded the corner, followed a few steps behind by Riku. They were wearing their Club Thirteen jackets, and had blended into the night until Lea had removed his hood.

"You guys are locked out," Lea said. It wasn't a question.

"Shut up!" Roxas snarled, glaring at him furiously. "Maybe we're just enjoying the night."

"Your lips are blue."

Riku, ignoring the impending argument, came to kneel by Sora. His voice was gentle. "Sora? Cloud locked you out, didn't he?"

He crumbled, leaning against Riku and trying to warm up. "It's so cold…" He was soon enfolded in his friend's comforting arms.

"We came by to pick up Riku's spare controllers," Lea was saying to Roxas. "The new Keyblade Masters has a quartet mode and we were _going_ to ask you two if you wanted to come over and play. Your lights were off."

"Maybe we were asleep!" He snapped.

"At seven thirty?" Lea waved a hand, dismissing the idea entirely. "Riku heard you on the deck. We only came by to check." The two of them glared at each other silently for a long moment. "It's gonna hit freezing point tonight. There's no way _either_ of us are going to let you stay out here."

"No, we're not," Riku agreed, holding Sora close.

"Fine," Roxas said stubbornly. "What then?"

"We've got three options," Lea announced, holding a finger up. "I can break into this place, but judging by the security light that DIDN'T blast us in the face, Sephiroth cut the power lines – and it's not going to be much warmer inside." He held up another finger. "Two, you can stay in Riku's place – But if Sephiroth catches you there, you'll be in big trouble."

"So option three, then," Roxas said sourly.

Lea gave an odd smirk. "You'll hate it."

"More than freezing to death or getting impaled by our neighbour?"

His smirk only widened. "You can come stay with me."


	12. Interlude: Ven and Lea 1

"So. You and Hayner, huh?"

Lea had been sitting on the fire escape, smoking. They'd been playing the notoriously unforgiving _Keyblade Masters,_ but he'd failed to pass the Initiation and never got his Keyblade. Since you couldn't restart multiplayer mode until all the players failed, he'd been stuck with nothing to do.

A half hour later, the window opened and Roxas crawled out, wrapped in a blanket.

Lea quickly stubbed out his cigarette. He loved to smoke, but most of the time he could restrain himself from his habit. However, the last few days had been stressful, and he was indulging himself. He felt almost at home with smoke in his lungs. But that didn't mean he was inflicting second-hand smoke on anyone else.

"You die? He asked, watching the little blond settle on the stairs, the blanket pulled up over his head like a hood.

"Mhm. Lost a battle against my dark half." Too-blue eyes stared at him across the small metal landing.

Then Lea had asked the question.

Roxas gave him a scathing look. "What's it to _you_?" he asked defensively.

He shrugged. "My only friend is basically dating your twin," he pointed out. "We should at least learn to get along. So Sora can stop giving us kicked-puppy looks very time we talk and it turns into an argument."

Roxas huffed. "And you thought the best start was to pester me about my relationships?"

He shrugged, flicking his lighter open and closed. "Well, I'm curious. I don't know much about you, Roxas. You drink overpriced coffee, you main Gail in _Keyblade Masters_ , you hate me and you want to date Hayner."

The blond glared at him. "So what if I do?"

"I've been here for my entire life, Roxas, I know Hayner. I could help you out."

"I don't need your help, _Axel_ ," he snapped.

"I know you don't," Lea said tiredly. He stood properly and stretched. "I'm making an effort. But I get the hint pretty quickly." He opened the window to climb back in. "Don't freeze out here."

He looked in on the living room. A mini-game had timed out waiting for a response and the other two were asleep. Sora was tucked up to Riku's side, one of his friend's arms holding him securely. He rolled his eyes and grabbed a blanket, throwing it over them both.

Riku stirred and opened one eye. His arm tightened around Sora, and he settled back down to sleep.

Lea turned off the console and the TV, then banked up the fireplace. He startled when he heard Roxas settle down beside him.

"So what's your advice, then? About Hayner."

He felt his eyebrows twitch in surprise. Roxas actually wanted his help. "He works pretty simple. A subtle approach won't work. Tell him you like him, ask him out."

"That's your advice?" Roxas asked irritably.

He shrugged. "The people in this town…" He poked at the fire with a branch. How could he explain without sounding nuts? "They don't change. They do the same thing every week. Hayner's one of the better ones – You can at least have a conversation with him." He shook his head. "But like I said. Subtlety doesn't work. Be clear, and things will probably work out for you."

"Where should I start?" He sounded defensive about it, but Lea realised he was unsure, intimidated by not knowing what to do.

"Winter Ball is next weekend. Why don't you ask him as your date? He usually just goes with Pence and Olette as a group."

Roxas shifted the blanket over the shoulder it had slipped from. "The ball. I guess he'd want to, like… Dance and stuff."

"Usually what happens at these sorts of things, yeah," he replied, amused.

"But…" The blond mumbled, almost inaudibly. "I don't know how to dance."

Lea couldn't help but smile. Sometimes Roxas was so raw and _human_ – he had no idea how much of a relief it was. Maybe because of that, his voice was much gentler than he would have liked it to be. "Well, that's easy. You can learn."

Roxas gave him a scathing look. "Learn. Just like that!"

"Well, you still have a week of lessons in gym."

His hands bunched into tight fists. "I'm not going to embarrass myself in front of the whole class."

Lea sighed. He really wanted to smoke. "Well _I_ could teach you."

Roxas glared at him. "What?"

"It's been years, I could do Marluxia's dances in my sleep. I can teach you."

"I don't want **you** to teach me either!" He hissed.

Lea rolled his eyes. "Then ask Riku in the morning. He's got a year on your brother, so he'll probably be more help."

He stood and excused himself for another smoke. The night air was frozen, but he didn't seem to feel it. The same burning heat beneath his skin was there, as always. He couldn't feel the cold, or the heat.

 _'_ _Ridiculous. A nobody cannot_ _ **feel**_ _anything._ '

He pushed away the memory roughly. He tried not to think about it these days. The sterile white orphanage they called a 'Foster Home' – their carer Xemnas, who made sure they all knew they were nobodies. Banding together to make Club Thirteen – the schism that had torn them all apart and ended so many lives. Isa, his face cut open and bloody in the back of a police car: " _whose side are you even on, Lea?"_

Who else's? " _My own."_

The bitter sound of Isa's laugh. _"Then you'll be with everyone you try to protect. A heartless nobody, utterly alone for the rest of your pitiful life_."

And he had been alone, for years until Riku came along.

He couldn't go back to the Home, so he'd spent months living on the streets, until his inability to feel temperature had almost gotten him killed. In the weeks he'd spent in the hospital recovering from hypothermia and pneumonia, the council had decided what to do with him – the food cart and the apartment and the subsidised cafeteria food to trick him into staying in school long enough to graduate.

But tonight – or yesterday, really – he'd known. The Strife twins, showing up unusually early, unwashed and dishevelled in weather-inappropriate clothes; their questions about hotels; the food they'd bought at the grocery store, things that were filling but didn't need to be cooked or refrigerated; the shopping bags full of clothes, even though they'd just moved.

It had only taken Riku one question to catch on: _Cloud always locks the house when he leaves, right – have you ever seen Sora or Roxas with keys?_

The window squeaked as it opened, and – as if summoned by his thoughts – Roxas climbed out wrapped up in the blanket.

Lea quickly stubbed out his cigarette. Roxas… He didn't know what to _do_ with himself about the surly, angry blond. Not with all he wanted and how obviously the other couldn't even _stand_ him.

He exhaled the last stream of smoke into the wind, making sure it drifted _away_ from Roxas.

"Aren't you _cold_?" The blond asked suspiciously.

He glanced down at his clothes – the thin long-sleeved t-shirt and the sweatpants. "Probably," he said, looking at the blue tips of his fingers. "I don't feel the temperature."

Roxas huffed. "Weirdo." He tugged the blanket closer around himself. "I've decided you would be the best one to teach me to dance. If I'm going to learn enough not to embarrass myself in _one week_ , I need someone with a lot of experience."

Lea raised eyebrows. "Is _that_ how you ask someone for a favour, Roxas?" He let him glare in stony silence before accepting it was all he was gonna get. "Fine. On one condition."

"Since when was there a condition?"

"Everyone can tell you I never do anything except for my own benefit – got it memorised?"

"Fine. What condition?"

"We call a truce, okay? Those lovebirds will be getting together any day now – which means we'll be spending more time with each other. I don't want to fight with you, Roxas. So, truce?"

"What, do I have to start being _friends_ with you now?"

Lea sighed. Would they _never_ get anywhere? "Whatever you want, Roxas." He stood.

The blond stood as well. "Okay. We'll go inside and start then."

"What, _now_?"

"Yes, now."

"It's one in the morning."

"Are you going to sleep?"

"Well… No."

"Then you can start my lessons now."

Lea didn't argue any further. He took Roxas to his bedroom, shoving his desk and drawers against one wall so they had room to move.

"You should let Hayner lead. He's taller, and he knows the steps."

"So I have to let **you** lead."

Lea sighed tiredly. "For now, okay? I promise once you know what you're doing, I'll let you lead as much as you want. Got it memorized?"

"Why would I **want** to dance with you when I know everything?"

 _Truce_ , he reminded himself sternly, so he could avoid biting back at the blond. "We'll call it your final lesson."

The first part of the lesson was awful. Roxas resisted him at every moment, and snarled at everything he said. But he did, eventually, relax enough to work with Lea.

They got through the last dance just as the sun was peeking over the horizon.

Roxas was physically exhausted, and was now just leaning against Lea's chest – eyes closed as they gently swayed to the music from the clock radio. He knew he had to end the moment, send Roxas off to bed – but he knew the instant the moment vanished, it would be gone forever.

He heard cars starting on the road below. The night was over, a new day had begun. He gave a low sigh.

"Roxas."

"Mm?" The blond asked, more than half asleep.

"You should go to bed."

"Mm. Okay." But he made no effort to move.

Lea sighed. Through a lot of careful maneuvering, he managed to get Roxas into _his_ bed without waking him up. The blond curled up on his pillow when he was down, and Lea draped the warmest comforter over him.

Then he very much _did not_ stick around to watch him sleep. He had other things to do anyway.


	13. Illness

Sora woke up to the smell of roasting coffee. He was deliciously warm, comfortable and safe. It took a moment for something to sink through his sleepy haze. His pillow was rising and falling like breath.

He opened his eyes and looked up. He was resting against Riku's chest – and he was awake, glasses on his face as he read from a notebook. He quickly noticed Sora's gaze and lowered the book, smiling. He folded it closed and slid his glasses off. "Good morning, Sora."

"Morning," he replied. His voice was rough and painful, and he gave a startled cough, without time to cover his mouth.

Riku had flinched back from the cough, but quickly moved to check Sora's forehead. "You're burning up!"

And then suddenly, he felt it. Riku's hand was blissfully cool, and everything else was unbearably hot. His head felt foggy and his body too heavy to move. "I don't feel well."

There were soft footsteps that sounded far too loud in his ears.

"What's going on?" That was Lea, but why was he shouting?

"He's got a fever."

Sora whined and rolled away from their shouting. "Where's Ven?"

There was a silence following his question.

"Ven? Where is Ven?"

"Who's Ven?" Someone whispered. The voice was familiar, but he couldn't pick why.

"We should get Roxas." That was Riku. His best friend, his oldest friend. "Where is he?"

"In bed," said the other voice.

"Ven?" Sora called out again.

"Go wake him up." Riku. Sea and sunshine and the island breeze.

"I'm awake." Ven. Roxas. Vent-as. Rox-us. His other. A heart shattered until it was strong enough to support himself. Forced out on its own to grow and grow in adversity and return to its shelter. But never home, because home was lost in oblivion. "Sora. It's Roxas. I'm here."

He clutched his other's hands. "I don't feel good."

"You're sick, Sora."

"I don't wanna be sick."

"I know." His voice changed direction. "Can we take him to the bed?"

"We can put him in Riku's bed." Roxas. Axel. Lea. That was Lea's voice. "In the spare room."

He felt someone lift him up, and drifted off to sleep again. When he stirred again, he felt a little clearer. He sat up, and a damp cloth slid off his head.

He climbed out of the bed and wandered towards the door.

He spotted his friends and his other, sitting around the beat-up dining table.

"Should we take him to the hospital?" Riku was asking.

"No, it's not that serious," Roxas replied, shaking his head.

"If he's not improved by this afternoon, I'll call Aerith and ask her to stop by. She might prescribe some antibiotics. I don't think it's that serious, relax Riku."

Sora walked towards them all, shivering. "Hey…"

Riku's head whipped around to spot him. "Sora…" He got up to help him into a seat at the table, pulling a blanket over his shoulders. "How are you feeling?"

"Gross," he said through a sore throat.

Riku got up to make him some toast and a cup of tea.

"I've got to head to Neminem," Lea said, looking between them all. "Business, profits, you understand."

"Of course, Lea," Sora replied. "It's important – We wouldn't dream of hurting your business."

Lea gave a quirked smile and thanked him quietly. He turned to Riku and raised his eyebrows in question.

Riku looked at Sora, then back at Lea guiltily. "Can you do without me today?"

"I managed before you came along," the redhead replied, giving him a dismissive look. "but we were supposed to get suits this weekend."

"… Right," Riku said.

"What's going on?" Sora asked, confused.

"Riku wants to stay and make sure you're okay," Roxas explained. "But Lea needs help at the cart –"

"I do not NEED help—"

"And they're supposed to go shopping for the ball."

Sora hummed. He wanted Riku here, but Lea needed him. "I'm okay," he told them. "I don't feel that sick anymore. I'm just going to get lots of sleep, maybe play some more _Keyblade Masters_."

"Riku better stay then. Skye and Klei are the only ones left in Quartet Mode." Roxas stood and nodded. "I'll help you out in the cart. I can get suits for me and Sora too."

Everyone was surprised by his offer, but Lea nodded. "Yeah. Fine. Can we take the car?"

"Mhm. Save the fuel, park it at the station. Don't kill each other."

Meanwhile, Sora raised his eyebrows at his other. He'd willingly agreed to spend time with Lea – _volunteered_ to do it. Roxas just shrugged – they'd talk about it later.

Lea and Roxas got ready for the day and left, while Riku settled Sora on the couch and made sure he was comfortable.

"What do you think happened with them?" Sora asked, resting back against Riku's chest.

He was shivery, and Riku was a warm, comforting presence. It felt somehow familiar, though even he couldn't guess at why as they waited for _Keyblade Masters_ to boot up.

"I guess they came to some sort of agreement. Roxas was on his way out onto the fire escape last I remember," Riku answered.

"I hope it lasts I'm tired of them fighting all the time."

"Me too," Sora mumbled, choosing Quartet Mode on the menu screen. Blaize and Gail were silhouetted, already game-over for those two until they were all out. "I don't know if it'll last, though. Roxas is…" He sighed and started the game up. "Roxas has his reasons. I don't like them, but I understand why."

They were silent for a while, concentrating on the game. Riku's breath ghosted across his hair and neck with every exhale.

"So, suits for the Winter Ball," Sora said, as Skye changed into his Power Form.

"Yeah," Riku said.

"So… you'll be going then?" He hinted.

"… Yeah?"

He felt his face flush red, and hoped he could blame it on the fever. "Do you want to maybe… go with me?"

Riku stopped… "Yeah."

"I mean, if you already have plans. You probably organised to hang out with Lea for the night—"

"Sora." Riku paused the game and set both of their controllers aside. He lightly took Sora's hands in his. "I said yes. I want to go to the Winter Ball. With you or not at all."

Sora turned back to him with a huge grin. "Okay. Together or not at all."

Riku smiled back at him, warm and content. "Okay." He handed him back the controller and unpaused the game.

Riku ferried Sora back to his house Monday morning. By Tuesday he was ready to go back to school, fit as a fiddle. Hayner and Pence were out sick, with the same flu that was sweeping through the school. With no one else to sit with, Roxas agreed to sit outside with Riku and, after Wednesday with Lea too.

"Did you ask Hayner to the ball yet?" Lea asked, flicking his lighter on and off.

Sora raised his eyebrows at his other. Since when had that been a thing?

Roxas seemed flustered and annoyed at it being mentioned – but not angry. Which was unusual.

"He's been off sick since Monday," Roxas mumbled. "I haven't had this opportunity."

Lea tugged at his spikes. "You need to do something big then. Ride to his house in the middle of the night and throw rocks at his window. Show up with flowers and a string quartet."

"You're embarrassing!" Roxas groaned, yanking Lea's hood over his head. "Put some gloves on. Your fingers are going blue!"

Lea rolled his eyes and grabbed a pair of knitted gloves out of his pocket.

Sora glanced back at Riku and raised his eyebrows. Something had shifted between Lea and Roxas, and since Sunday they were getting along. Still snarking at each other, but it seemed almost playful now.

"I might go over in the afternoon," Roxas said.

"Do you know where he lives?" Lea asked.

"… No."

He snorted. "Riku, can we take the car? I'll take Roxas to Hayner's." He smirked. "Maybe the florist."

"Shut up, Axel," Roxas groaned.

"Take the keys," Riku said, in an oddly rough voice. "I'll take the bus with Sora."

The older twin turned to give Riku a concerned look. He reached up to feel his forehead. "You're burning up."

He softly batted Sora's hand away. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me, Sora." He gave Sora a smile, but his cheeks were flushed with fever.

"You wait hand and foot on him for two days straight, but _he's_ not allowed to worry about you," Roxas said, rolling his eyes. "Sure."

"You're sick," Sora said.

"I'll be fine." Riku sat up straighter, taking a moment to tug the sleeves of his Club Thirteen hoodie up over his elbows. Sweat was gathering on his skin.

"Alright, I'm driving you home," Lea announced, getting to his feet. He reached down to pull Riku up. "I'll be back by last bell, Roxas. Try not to worry too much, Sora. I'll make sure he gets some rest."

Sora was too anxious to concentrate on his work for the rest of the school day. After gym, he grabbed his other's arm and pulled him out to the back parking lot.

Lea was leaning against Riku's car, smoking a cigarette. He stubbed it out as he noticed the twins approaching. "Cloud and Sephiroth are back," he told them, opening the driver's side door and climbing back in.

Roxas slid into the passenger seat, and Sora slid in the back seat of the car.

"We still going to Hayner's?" Lea asked, starting the car up.

"Yeah," Roxas announced. He seemed oddly nervous about it, chewing his thumbnail.

Lea expertly navigated the streets of seemingly identical houses. Parking across the road, he nodded towards the front door. "Hayner lives there," he told Roxas. "You want me to wait here, or drop Sora off and come back?"

"Stay," the blond replied, unbuckling his seatbelt. "I might want a quick getaway." He took a deep breath, then marched himself across the road.

Lea and Sora watched him go, and when his twin went inside the front door, Sora heard Lea give a heavy sigh. He blinked in surprise, turning to look at him.

"… Oh."

Lea glanced back at him quickly. "What?"

"You're _in love_ with him."

His jaw clenched and he looked away. "That's _ridiculous_ ," he said in a calm voice. "I've known Roxas for, like, two weeks," he continued, "being in love with Roxas would be completely _ridiculous_." He shifted in his seat and locked away.

Sora watched hm for a long moment, trying to figure him out. It didn't work as well as it did on Roxas and Riku.

"… But?"

Lea sighed heavily. "I'm drawn to him," he said quietly. "I can't say I'm not jealous of Hayner. But it doesn't matter. If it makes him happy…"

Sora reached forward and touched his shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze. "That's real sweet, you know."

He leaned into the touch with a deep sigh. They stayed that way until Roxas emerged from the house – his face was impassive and his gait was calm. He buckled in and looked at them. "Uh. We going to go?"

Lea turned the car on. "Did it not go well?"

"It went fine. He said yes. Why?" He gave him a confused look.

"You just don't seem all that happy about it."

"I am pleased," he said coldly. "Not that it's any of _your_ business, Hothead." It was unusually standoffish compared to their more recent interactions.

Lea glanced at him, but didn't say anything. He drove back through the identical streets until they reached the Strife house. "I'll see you at school tomorrow. I don't think Riku will be there. He was pretty ill by the time I got him home."

Sora was disappointed, but he nodded and climbed out. "Okay, thanks Lea. See you later."

"Later, Sora. Bye, Roxas."

The other twin didn't answer. He slammed the door and walked off.


	14. Waiting

_"_ _Are you ready to do this, Sora?" Riku asked, settling himself in the pod._

 _"_ _I have to do this," Sora declared, climbing into the pod across the room from him. "K- is in there. M- put her there, and she told us how to break it. I have to go there. I have to find her, and break the spell."_

 _"_ _You'll find her, Sora. Your hearts are linked. Nothing can come between the two of you."_

 _Sora took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He heard Riku pressing a few buttons._

 _"_ _Okay. We'll be asleep in a few moments. I'll be uploaded immediately, but it'll be twelve hours before you are. I'll find you, and we'll work together."_

 _"_ _We'll find K-. Everything I feel for her won't go away. It will work and then I'll free us all."_

 _"_ _I know, Sora. She's your most important person. The two of you will come together again."_

 _"_ _Riku…"_

 _"_ _It'll be okay, Sora."_

"Sora."

He opened his eyes and looked up in the face of his other. Roxas was dressed and ready, a suitbag hanging over his shoulder. He sat up. "You're going now?"

"Yeah," his other said. "We're all getting ready in Olette's house tonight. We're going to play Struggle on the beach in the afternoon. You sure you don't want to come along?"

Sora shook his head. "I'm going with Riku. You go get ready with your friends. I'll see you and Hayner there tonight, yeah?"

Roxas sighed. "Yeah… Hayner."

Sora tilted his head at his other. "Lea was right, you know. You _don't_ sound excited about it."

His twin's face had hardened at the mention of the other's name. But hearing the rest of the sentence, he gave a heavy sigh. "I'm happy," he said carefully. "I've… I like Hayner. Things will go fine with him."

"…But?"

He sighed, looking back at his other. "When I asked him to be my date… He didn't seem surprised – in a good way _or_ a bad way. Not like he was looking forward to it, or that he was uncomfortable. He just…" He fiddled with his sleeve. "He just smiled and said it was fine."

Sora tilted his head at his other. "Like he didn't seem to care either way?"

"Yeah." He shifted. "But that's fine. If it doesn't work out, we can just go back to normal."

"It's safe," Sora said in understanding. "I know you like to feel safe, Ven." He reached out to touch his other's arm. "You'd rather be safe than excited. That's okay. We all just want you to be happy and comfortable."

"You make me sad when you say it like that," Roxas said quietly. "Can't I feel safe _and_ excited? Why can't I have something like you and Riku?"

"Do **you** want to date Riku?"

"Fuck no," he said, pulling a face at him. "Riku is not my _type_. He's too…" His face twisted up. "He's just not…"

Sora laughed watching his other trying to find the right words.

"Alright, don't hurt yourself trying to figure it out. You don't want Riku. I get it."

Roxas pulled him close and rubbed his knuckles into his scalp until Sora was laughing, pleading for mercy. Once they were calmed, they laid out on Sora's bed next to each other, looking up at the ceiling.

"So. If you don't want Riku… is there someone you _do_ want?"

Ven was silent. "I want someone… lively. Passionate. Who knows what they want. Someone exciting – who I can have adventures with, but makes _just hanging out_ lively. I want there to be that _spark_."

Sora raised his head to grin playfully at Roxas. "Sounds like you want Blaise from _Keyblade Masters_."

Roxas picked up a pillow and whacked him over the head. "I do NOT want Bl—" He cut himself off, pillow going limp in his grip.

"Ven…?"

"Shut up!" He groaned. He sat up and grabbed his suit bag again. "I gotta go. I'm meeting Hayner before we go to Neminem."

"Okay." Sora tugged his shoes on and pulled Riku's jacket on over the top of his thin pyjama shirt. He walked with his other to the front gate. It felt _weird_ to be parting ways from Roxas – and left alone. He was _never_ alone. He didn't like it. "Have a good day, Roxas."

Before his other could answer, Riku's car pulled out of the driveway next door. The driver's window rolled down and Lea looked out at them. "Morning, Roxas. Sora."

He watched them both. "Can I give you a lift?"

"Roxas is going to Hayner's house," Sora explained.

His other pulled a face. "I was just going to take my skateboard. It's fine. Don't go out of your way."

Lea raised his eyebrows. "It's not that far. Offer's open if you want it." He turned his focus. "Sora… Look. Riku's pretty sick. He's going to see how he feels tonight. Thought I'd give you some warning."

"We're supposed to be going together…" Sora said, disappointed.

"I know. He's been a huge dork about how excited he is about it." He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. "I'm closing up early and coming back to get my suit from Riku's. Either we'll both pick you up, or I'll stop by."

Sora nodded, but still stayed quiet.

Lea sighed and looked back at Roxas. "You coming or not?"

"I'll see you tonight, Sora."

Sora was sitting on the stairs, glancing repeatedly up at the clock. The Winter Ball was supposed to start at 7:30, but it would take half an hour to get there, if they were going on the train. He didn't know how long it would take if they were driving into the city.

He checked the clock again, then tugged at his jacket sleeves. He'd spent nearly an hour attempting to tame his hair before eventually mastering his normal spikes and leaving it as it was.

His other had picked him a nice suit – the jacket and pants were plain black, paired with a red shirt and yellow tie. Roxas had claimed the colours were garish and horrible, but he know what Sora liked.

He lifted his foot and retied his shoelace.

 _Finally_ , there was a tentative knock on the door. Eager to see Riku, he jumped up to pull open the door. But it was only Lea.

"Oh."

The redhead rolled his eyes. "One day I'm going to think you're actually _trying_ to hurt my feelings, Sora." His suit and shirt were a charcoal grey, and here was a red silk tie hanging loosely around his shoulders. "Sora," he said quietly.

"Riku's not coming."

"No." He spun his car keys around his finger. "He wanted to. He really did. But he can barely stand up."

Sora sighed. "So what now?"

Lea stopped the keys, tossed them up and caught them from the air. "The way I see it, you got three options. You can go, have a terrible time and sulk against the wall all night. Or you could go, have fun with your friends, meet some of the girls from the other school." He paused there.

Sora raised his eyebrows. "And the third one…?"

He smirked and pulled off his tie and slipped it around his neck again, knotting it. Without another word, he turned and walked out to Riku's car waiting on the curb.

"But what was the third one?" Sora yelled after him.

Lea turned back to him. "Talk about blank with a capital 'B'." He rolled his eyes. "Don't you have a date to get to?"

Sora stood in the doorway until the tail-lights of the car disappeared around the corner. Then he closed the door behind him and hopped over the side fence, kneeling down to pick up a handful of woodchips.

He stood under the only lit window. Taking one chip between two fingers, he tossed it towards the window. It took five tries before a familiar silver head appeared at the window.

Riku's annoyed expression shifted to delight. He lifted the window up and pushed his head out. "Sora?" His voice sounded rough and stuffy.

"You gonna let me in?"

Riku rolled his eyes. "What am I supposed to do? Let down my hair? Go use the front door like a regular person. Dad isn't home." He shut the window and disappeared.

Sora grinned and walked around to the front door.

Riku opened the door with a smile. He was dressed in a fluffy bathrobe, his hair messily braided behind his neck. "Hey. You look nice. Did you stop by to say goodbye before you headed for the ball?"

Sora shook his head and stepped inside, closing the door behind himself. "Nope."

"… No?" Riku echoed, confused.

Sora grinned at him. "Together, or not at all, remember?"

Riku smiled and took Sora's hands into his own feverishly hot ones. "You should still go. I don't want you to miss out on all the fun because of me."

"Nah," Sora said. "It wouldn't be the same without you." He gave a cheeky grin. "And anyway, Lea already left without me."

Riku smiled gently. "Alright. You can hang with me tonight."


	15. Interlude: Ven and Lea: A Winter's Ball

Lea was leaning against the wall, watching the students move about the ballroom. The interior of Castle Oblivion was stark white, almost clinical – but with all the different colours of dresses and ties there were colours milling about everywhere.

Most people were having a fantastic time – the time of their lives, yet again this year.

Xigbar had glared at him every time he moved near the punchbowl, so he didn't even have a drink to keep him company as he fulfilled the important role of wallflower.

Early in the night, he'd sought out Roxas. The blond looked sleek and fancy in his dark suit pants, with a white shirt and dark waistcoat embroidered in green stars. He'd been glared at, almost hatefully during his approach. But that had toned down once he'd made it clear he was just passing on the message about Sora skipping out on the ball for Riku.

He barely stuck around long enough to hear the lazy thanks, weaving his way through the crowd.

Before he could make his way to his usual wall post, two familiar girls stepped in his way. They were wearing the same kind of long, flowy ballgown – but Kairi's was soft pink and Naminé's was pure white. She almost disappeared in the colours of the room.

"Axel," Naminé said in that soft, knowing voice of hers. "Will you dance with me?" It was less of a question and more of a statement.

Kairi glided away to wait, and Lea was left with no choice but to lead Naminé to the dancefloor. They joined the line of synchronised dances.

She was small and delicate in his arms. He remembered Roxas in his arms – similarly short, but not so much…. Denser. He was stronger, harder. To get to know, to get along with, to get out of his head.

Naminé was smoke. Untouchable, constantly shifting and almost toxic. He didn't understand her – her motives, her plans. Until he figured that out, he couldn't trust her.

"What do you want?"

She didn't seem surprised by the question. But neither did she answer it. "Where's Sora, Axel?"

"Where do you think, Naminé?" He replied. "He's with Riku. Because he's too sick to come out tonight."

Her lips pursed in disapproval.

"Interesting, isn't it?" He said evenly. "Eighteen years and the only time anyone's gotten sick before is me with pneumonia. And then all of a sudden a flu spreads through our school just in time for _Riku_ to get too sick to come to the ball."

She looked up at him. "I know you're figuring things out, Axel – you and Riku, together. Things need to go a certain way, and what's happening, Riku and Sora, like this…"

"Why are… _who_ are you to say what needs to be or not?" He demanded.

She sighed. "Because I'm the only one who remembers, Axel. I wish you would all just trust me."

"The heart wants what it wants, Naminé."

She sighed. "I'll just have to wait for you to figure the rest out." She stepped away and disappeared into the crowd.

Lea was free to take up his post against the wall. He made sure his eyes didn't linger on Roxas any more than any other person. But if he spent a longer time looking at Pence and Olette and the unfocused blond bloke dancing beside them, who would know?

The night was ending, and he was just thinking about leaving – which had nothing to do with spotting Olette and her group leaving _at all_.

"You look like you were having fun all night," a voice appeared at his shoulder. He glanced down at Roxas. "Thanks for holding up the wall. We wouldn't want the castle to come down and crush us all."

"Are you still here?" Lea asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Like you haven't been keeping an eye on me all night," Roxas replied, rolling his eyes.

"Well. I saw Hayner, Pence and Olette leave. Figured you'd be going with them to Olette's slumber party."

"Nah. Not this time." He looked at Lea for a long moment, something in his deep blue eyes Lea didn't know how to read.

"Dance with me."

"What?"

"I said, 'dance with me', hothead," Roxas replied, rolling his eyes.

"You want to dance with me?"

"Yeah…?"

"With _me_?"

"Shut up, Axel." The blond grabbed his arm and pulled him onto the dancefloor. There weren't very many people left in the ballroom to watch Roxas pull him close and arrange their arms.

"You told me I would lead."

Roxas' hand wasn't exactly _warm_ on his waist – he couldn't feel the temperature. But it was solid, and confident. Comforting. His own hand settled on Roxas' shoulder. He let himself be led through the end of a fast-paced dance.

He looked down at the blond's face, set in serious concentration. "Relax, would you? You don't have to try and impress me."

Roxas smirked. "Because you're already impressed with me?"

Lea startled, before bringing himself back under control. Roxas was just teasing him. "Sure," he drawled. "You can walk and talk _at the same time_. That's better than some people in this town."

The blond gave a huffing sort of laugh. The song shifted to something slower – Lea expected him to move away, but instead he shifted closer, his other hand dropping Lea's to settle on the other side of his waist.

Lea moved his free hand down to Roxas' side. The silk of his waistcoat was so soft, he couldn't help but indulge himself by stroking his fingers along the fabric.

Roxas shivered and gasped. "Axel!"

"Sorry!" he said quickly, shifting his grip up to his shoulder. "Are my fingers cold?" They probably were – not that he knew what _cold_ felt like.

"No. They're… warm. It's warm in here."

Lea supposed so. Roxas' face was flushed pink. "Do you want to get out of here?"

"Huh?" Roxas asked, snapping from his thoughts.

"And I thought Sora was the daydreamer," he said. "I mean, you're not going to Olette's so I assume you want to get back to Nemo. I've got Riku's car, so…"

"Yeah," the blond replied. He paused in the dance, tilting his head up to look Lea in the eyes. "Yeah. Take me home."


	16. Christmas

When Sora came back home Sunday morning after breakfast, he found Roxas lying in his bed. He was dressed in last night's suit, the unbuttoned waistcoat paired with an ill-fitting black suit jacket. He looked tired – like he'd been up all night.

"Good night at Olette's?" Sora asked, sitting down on his own bed.

"Huh?" Roxas lifted his head to look at his other. "Morning, Sora. Did you just get back from Riku's?"

"Yeah. We fell asleep playing _Keyblade Masters._ Did you have a good time at the ball?"

"Yeah," Roxas answered, as if he was surprised at himself. "Yeah. It was a good night."

"So you really like him, huh?"

Roxas jolted up, glaring at him angrily. " **What**?" He demanded.

"Hayner," Sora replied, confused by the anger. "You enjoyed your date with him, I mean?"

"Oh. Right." He laid back down. "Yeah. I had fun with Hayner. He's a nice guy." He was distracted as he said so.

"Get some sleep," Sora encouraged, tugging his other's shoes off. "Riku wants to take us all to dinner later."

"Us?" Roxas asked.

"You, me, Lea, Hayner," Sora replied, tucking a blanket over him.

"Hayner's busy," Roxas mumbled, moments before he fell asleep.

Sora let him sleep, milling about the house in a daze. He kept catching himself grinning and could hardly do anything to make himself stop. In the afternoon, he woke his other and made sure he got in the shower.

He'd just finished pulling on his black shirt with the fluffy white trim when he heard the doorbell. He skipped happily down the stairs and threw the front door open. He beamed at Lea standing on the other side of the door. "Hi, Lea! Come in!"

The redhead stomped sleet off his boots. "Hey, Sora." He was wearing a beanie and a pink scarf with snowflakes. "You might want to rug up more, it's supposed to snow tonight."

Sora nodded and turned to Riku as he came up the porch steps. His grin got impossibly wider. Their neighbour was bundled up to keep warm, and Sora instantly pulled him close. He nuzzled his warm nose against Riku's icy one, then pressed a soft kiss to chapped lips. "Hi."

"Hello there, Sora," he replied, keeping an arm around his waist as he stepped inside and nudged the door closed behind them.

Roxas was descending the stairs, his eyes on the redhead's scarf. He gave a mocking smirk. "Personal favourite of yours, hothead?"

Lea frowned slightly, almost as if he was confused with the way Roxas was talking to him. "It's going to snow tonight."

"You don't feel the cold."

"Well, I wanted to save us all the trouble of listening to you tell me to layer up all night."

Roxas scoffed as he grabbed his long black coat from the hall closet, throwing Sora his own. "Why would I care?"

Sora laughed. And, using his best impression of Roxas' voice: "' _Put your gloves on, your fingertips are going blue_.'"

Riku chuckled beside him, and Roxas threw an angry glare at them both. "Can we go already?"

Lea opened the door and stepped out onto the porch. "What time is Hayner expecting us?" He asked, adjusting his beanie.

"He's not coming," Sora replied. "Roxas said he's too busy tonight."

"On a Sunday night?" The redhead asked dubiously.

"Yeah, they were talking about it last night," Roxas said evasively.

"Roxas stayed at Olette's last night," Sora told Riku. "That's why we didn't hear Lea drop him off."

Lea turned to raise his eyebrows. "Olette, huh?" He asked. There was something in his tone of voice that Sora didn't know how to interpret.

"So?" Roxas demanded, raising his chin defiantly. "What's it to you, Hothead?"

"I thought _I_ was taking you home," Lea drawled. Again with that unreadable tone. "But you don't care about leaving me waiting around for you."

Lea didn't stick around to hear whatever Roxas muttered, stomping off towards the car. He adjusted his scarf as he went.

Sora glanced at Riku, checking if he knew what was going on between the two of them. He got a shrug in reply – neither of them knew what was going on.

They kissed at the car doors and went to their seats.

The drive to the strip of restaurants overlooking Neminem City across the gulf of Nihil was uncomfortably silent. Both Roxas and Lea were sulking about whatever it was they were fighting over – Riku couldn't talk much while he was navigating the slick streets.

"We might have to walk back to yours tonight, Lea," Riku said as he parked.

"Fine," Lea said flatly. "My house is always open."

He adjusted his scarf again as he climbed out of the car.

Roxas almost jumped out of the car after him. Sora leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Riku's shoulders. The two of them watched the others have an increasingly heated argument through the windshield.

"What do you think happened last night?" Riku asked, holding on to Sora's hands.

"You think it did?" He asked, following his other's agitated movements with careful eyes.

"It had to, right? Something at the ball, maybe?"

Sora hummed. "I guess Lea was hanging about for a while to take him home and Roxas left without telling him."

"That seems like a bit of an overreaction, even for Lea," Riku answered.

"I don't know. It always seems like life or death with those two," he shrugged. "And maybe Lea's a little more jealous of Hayner than he wants to admit."

The argument ended. Roxas stomped off into the restaurant. Lea glared at the two of them in the car. He jerked his head towards the restaurant to tell them to get inside, then stalked off. His hands shook as he took out his cigarette case.

"Damn," Riku sighed and got out of the car.

They were on the first course when Lea came back. They were sitting at a booth by the window overlooking Neminem City. Riku and Sora were sitting on one side, playing footsies under the table. Roxas was on the other side, but even though he shifted over to give Lea room, the redhead pulled a chair over and sat backwards on it.

"So," he drawled, "you two are _official_ now?" He picked up a breadstick and crunched into it.

"Yeah," Sora said, smiling. "We're together now."

Roxas snorted. "Like you haven't been his since the moment you saw him."

"Have not!" Sora and Riku said at the same time.

Lea and Roxas laughed, then cut themselves off when they realised they were doing it together.

The redhead turned to Sora. "So what's this outfit then, Sora? Goth-Santa?"

"It does look like it!" Riku laughed, tickling his fingers across Sora's ribs.

He laughed, twitching away from him. "It's not," he said. "But I wish it was. I'm so excited for Christmas."

"Are we doing presents?" Riku asked, moving an empty plate away.

"Ugh, how long do we have left?" Lea groaned.

"About eight days," Riku replied. "Next Monday."

"It's so close!" Sora cried excitedly. He didn't know – he was usually much better at keeping track, but the move had thrown him all off. "That's not enough time to get all the presents I need."

"Let's make it easier, then," Riku announced. "We'll do a gift exchange, just between the four of us. We all get one person to buy a gift for."

Sora pouted. He _loved_ buying presents, but he supposed he still had all their other friends to buy for. He could probably bully Roxas into letting him buy _his_ presents for him to.

While Sora was sorting through his plans, Riku had asked their waitress for a pen and a bit of paper. She'd frozen at the request as if she had no idea how to react to the words.

"A pen and a bit of paper," Riku repeated carefully.

In a strange, almost puppet-like movement, she offered out her pen and one page of her notebook.

"Thank you."

She walked off in the same puppet-like fashion.

"… That was weird." Roxas said to no one in particular. Then he turned to Sora. "That was weird, right?"

A familiar high-pitched squealing filled his ears. He struggled against it, but in the few seconds it took to clear, he forgot what they had been talking about. "Are we pulling names now?"

The other three looked at him in confusion. But Riku nodded and folded the last slip of paper. "Yeah. Give us your hat, Lea."

"Can't you just use an empty glass?" Lea asked, folding his arms over his chest.

"They're all wet," Riku replied. "We only need it for a few seconds."

Before Lea could argue, Roxas leaned over and snatched the hat off. The hair underneath was a mess – straightened but none of the usual gel had made it in to form the usual spikes. He all but snarled at Roxas, though he made no effort to swipe it back. Instead he moved a hand to try and fix the worst of his hair.

Riku scrambled the strips of paper around in the hat and held it out. Lea's arms were longer, and beat even Sora's enthusiasm.

He took out his paper, unfolded it and grunted. "Fine."

Riku snorted. "Put your own name back and get a new one, Lea," he told him, shaking his beanie at him.

The redhead looked annoyed, but he grabbed a new one and dropped his name back into the hat.

"You don't like Christmas?" Sora asked, shocked. How could anyone not like Christmas?"

"Family and friends and gift-giving," Lea replied. "I'm an orphan who had no friends until Riku showed up. There isn't much to enjoy there."

"Well, that's going to change!" Sora declared. "We'll do a proper Christmas – The four of us!"

"Don't you need to spend time with Cloud?" Riku asked.

"No," Roxas said. "Cousins. And he missed out on Sora's Christmas Spirit."

"I think _everyone_ missed out on _that_ much spirit," Lea grumbled, rolling his eyes. He unfolded his slip of paper, pulled a face, and slipped it into his pocket. "Can we have a price limit, please? I can't blow my bank, and it's not fair if one person gets a shitty present and the rest of us get something great."

"Five thousand munny?" Sora ventured as the other two picked their papers out, thinking it was reasonable.

Lea suddenly stony expression told him that it wasn't a good try.

"Mm," Riku said. "It's been a while since the last harvest I sold. Can we make it two and a half?"

"Works for me!" Sora said brightly, and grabbed the last slip of paper out. Lea – perfect!

He'd make sure his friend had a good Christmas!

On Christmas Eve, Sora knocked excitedly on Lea's door. Over the past week he'd been forcing his other and his boyfriend over after school to suitably Christmassify the apartment, or dragging his brother to Neminem so they could shop.

Lea opened the door, wearing the gaudily decorated Christmas sweater Sora had insisted was mandatory for the day.

"Merry Christmas!" Sora yelled, as Riku and his other caught up with him, carrying their stuff.

"Yeah, that," Lea said, standing aside to let everyone inside.

"Did you preheat the oven like Sora asked?" Roxas asked instead of any polite greeting.

"In the kitchen," Lea said dryly. He closed the door behind Riku.

The apartment was almost as gaudy as the Christmas supply store everything had come from. A pine tree filled to the brim with ornaments of all colours. Tinsel was wrapped around everything and wreaths and boughs were hung all over the walls. Above a merry fireplace hung four red and white stockings, embroidered with one name each.

"Is this much food necessary?" Lea asked, following Riku and his armfuls of shopping bags into the kitchen.

"Why do you have so many shallow trays?" Roxas asked, rifling through his cupboards.

"I roast coffee beans," Lea replied. "What are you looking for?"

Sora took Riku out to the living room, leaving Lea and Roxas to deal with the food. He slipped off his backpack and started tucking presents underneath the tree.

His boyfriend settled beside him. "That's three times more presents than you should be unpacking."

"Well. I had to get _you_ a present, you're my boyfriend. And of course Roxas and I had to get presents for each other – twin rules."

"And this?" Riku asked, picking up a small wrapped box with 'Axel' scrawled on it in Roxas' messy handwriting.

Sora tucked it under the tree, next to his own gift. "Roxas said that it wouldn't give Lea the best Christmas ever if we all had two presents to open and he only had one."

"That's unusually perceptive for Roxas."

"He's like that when it comes to Lea. I don't think even he knows if they're going to be friendly or fight each time they meet." He shrugged.

"I don't know why Lea puts up with it, honestly," Riku answered, arranging some of the other presents. "He doesn't usually put up with much from anyone. He—" He broke off. "Fuck. He's in love with Roxas."

Sora laughed. "I figured that out _weeks_ ago," he replied, nudging his elbow into his boyfriend's side.

"Shit," Riku said. "Does Roxas…? Not that far, obviously. But even a little…?"

Sora sighed. "I don't…" He trailed off, then sighed again. "He's still going on dates with Hayner. You didn't hear it from me, but a big part of the reason he's such a jerk to Lea is to make sure they keep distant. He's drawn to him, but it's more important to him to protect himself."

"Protect himself from what?"

"That's not my place to say," he answered, shaking his head. "But some bad stuff happened, and he's always scared people will get hurt again."

Before Riku could reply, Roxas' furious shout sounded from the kitchen: "Damnit, Axel! Use the fucking oven gloves!"

Sora gotto his feet and hurried towards the kitchen.

"Just because you can't **feel** the heat, doesn't mean it won't burn you!" Roxas was yelling, throwing a pair of brand new oven mitts at the redhead.

"I've never been burned," Lea grumbled, pulling the mitts on to get the oven tray out.

"Doesn't mean you can't!" Roxas snapped, shooing him away from the food. "Stop 'helping'. Sora, can you take Axel away? I'm sure he can help you fire-roast the chestnuts."

Somehow, they managed to get dinner together, eating on a folded table Lea had borrowed from his neighbour Luxord. There were paper hats and corny jokes Sora couldn't stop giggling about, even when they moved onto board games by the roaring fire.

By protest of their twin telepathy, Sora and Roxas were banned from being on the same team. At first Riku was on a team with Roxas, but after a dessert break they switched and Sora had his boyfriend back by his side.

Lea had a mug of coffee, and Sora watched as his other, drawn to the smell, managed to be obvious enough that the redhead handed him the mug with nothing more than an eyeroll.

After that, the conversation was dominated by Roxas and Lea discussing coffee techniques. Lea was refusing to give his away, and they were half-heartedly fighting about it while Riku and Sora trashed them in the game.

At a very reasonable time of the night – to Sora, anyway – he yawned and declared he was going to bed.

Riku made to move to go with him as Roxas said: "Okay, I'll be in with you later."

There was an awkward pause, and an adorable pink blush spread across Riku's nose and cheeks.

Lea was the one who had no embarrassment in breaking it. "He's going with Riku, Roxas. And they're not going to _sleep_ right away."

"Ew," Roxas declared. "Well where am I going to sleep?"

"You can have my bed," Lea answered, shrugging and dealing out a hand of cards for them both.

"And where will _you_ sleep?"

"On the couch."

"You're like ten feet tall, idiot. You won't fit on the couch."

"Then I'll take the cushions off and make a bed on the floor. Chill out."

"Me! _You're_ the one that needs to chill, Hothead!"

Sora rolled his eyes. Leaving them to the argument that could go on forever, he took Riku's hand, leading him off to the bedroom.


	17. Gift

As with every Christmas for his entire life, Sora was up at the crack of dawn already buzzed with energy. He woke up Riku, then hurried out. He decided to wake Lea first – Roxas was always impossibly grumpy if he was woken up. That would not help contribute to Lea's Best Christmas Ever. As he passed by the living room, he spotted the end of the couch cushions and a blanket behind the couch. No feet poking out the bottom or vibrant red hair – Roxas must've insisted on sleeping there. He made sure to tip-toe quietly past the living room to Axel's bedroom.

He threw the door open and cried out excitedly: "Wake up, sleepy head!"

Lea twitched awake. "Huh? What? What's happening?"

But then Sora froze. There was unexpected movement. His brother emerged from the other side of the bed, giving his brother a death glare.

"Sora. What the fuck?"

"… It's Christmas!"

"Then I'll murder you tomorrow," Roxas grumbled, yanking the blanket up over his head.

The movement of the blanket exposed the red tartan of Lea's pyjamas and a long-sleeved black shirt.

"Oh, thank fuck you're not naked," Riku said from behind Sora.

"Shut up," Lea said. He climbed out of the bed, tugging his hair into spikes as he headed to the door. "I need coffee."

"Leftovers-breakfast, then _presents_!" Sora insisted.

Roxas grumbled darkly from under the blanket. Sora left him to wake up properly, heading off to the kitchen with the redhead.

"So…" Sora said, watching Lea as he started to stir the coffee in a pot on the stove. "You and Roxas, huh?"

"No," Lea deadpanned.

"You were sleeping with him," Sora pointed out.

"Yeah. _We_ were actually sleeping," Lea replied.

When the coffee was at its most aromatic, Roxas shuffled in. He wrapped his arms around Lea's waist to steal the mug right out of Lea's hands. "I love you."

Lea tensed in his arms, before slowly relaxing. "You… I mean, the coffee loves you too." He poured his own mug, picked up his cigarette box and headed out to the fire escape. Riku followed after him with a deeply concerned look.

"Put socks on!" Roxas yelled after them - though more for Lea's sake than Riku's. He turned back to Sora. "Now I'm actually awake, let's get started on breakfast."

"Ven," Sora said carefully. "You can't do that to Lea."

"What? Steal his coffee? He had plenty more."

"Ven," he said again. "Lea has _feelings_ for you. You said _l love you._ To _his coffee._ While he was _right there. In_ _your arms_."

"Axel does not have feelings for me, Sora, don't be ridiculous," Roxas said dismissively. He moved to start on breakfast. "I've never been nice to him, he's not a _total_ idiot. Whatever attraction he felt is long gone."

"You slept with him."

"It was just sleeping, Sora. It's not like we had sex last night."

He gave his twin a long, hard look. "So it doesn't matter to you at all if _he_ gets hurt. Just as long as you protect yourself." He turned away. "Let's cook. It's Christmas."

Roxas stared at him silently for a long moment, then turned to start cooking.

Lea and Riku came back in from the window not long afterwards. Sora hardly even complained when Riku tucked his icy cold nose into his neck. The redhead disappeared into the living room, and by the time they carried breakfast to the covered table, he had a roaring fire going.

Riku had to pull him over to the table and into a seat. The normally lively Lea was subdued, hardly talking and almost never looking up from his plate.

"Not much of a morning person, are you?" Sora asked.

"It's been a while since I woke up to someone screaming in my face," the redhead replied flatly.

He opened his mouth to reply, but fell silent when he felt Riku take his hand. He glanced over at his boyfriend who silently shook his head. Instead, he talked about the rest of the day. Presents, snowball fights, then they'd come inside and warm up – play video games or curl up in front of a movie. The snow was new – in Destiny Island, it had been water fights and Blitz Ball. It was his first Christmas with real snow and he intended to take full advantage of it.

Lea was the last to finish, pushing his empty plate away.

"Should we go open those presents now then?" The unspoken _'and get this over with'_ was obvious.

"Yeah!" Sora said, with all the enthusiasm the redhead lacked. He grabbed Lea's arm and dragged him over to the Christmas tree. "Sweaters. Mandatory!"

Lea grumbled and grabbed his sweater from the floor next to the couch. He tugged it back on and then set to work tugging his spikes back to order. "It's on."

"Cheer up, hothead," Roxas replied, sitting next to him on one of the cushions on the floor. "Do you _want_ to spoil Sora's fun?"

He sighed and shrugged, arms reaching to grab one of the presents. " _To Riku, from Roxas_."

He handed out a few presents before Sora took over.

Roxas had pulled Riku's name, and gotten him some new art supplies. Riku had Sora, and he absolutely loved the cuddly meow wow plush his boyfriend got him. Sora had gotten Lea's name – _after_ he'd put it back in the hat – and he'd thoughtfully bought him a bright red set of gloves and a scarf. They had some round spiky circle pattern on them the shopkeeper had called a 'chakram'. As soon as Sora had seen them, he knew it was perfect for Lea.

Which meant that Lea had pulled Roxas' name. The gift was in a small drawstring bag tied with a tag that only said Roxas' name.

The blond pulled open the bag and tipped it out into his palm. It was a small pendant, an X shape with sharp tips.

"It's nice!" Sora said brightly.

"… What is it?" Riku asked, looking at it curiously.

Lea just shrugged, looking at his hands as he pulled at his gloves. "It can be a keyring, or a necklace or just hang it from a zipper. Whatever you like." He stretched his hands to test the gloves, and his eyes strayed back to the tree. "Why are there still presents under the tree?"

"Sora's enthusiasm for presents cannot be restrained," Roxas deadpanned, fingers tracing the edges of his gift.

Sora eagerly handed out the second round of presents. He and Roxas had gotten each other the same gift – a round blue crystal they both held up to the light to see the colours dance. It made him feel indescribably sad, for no reason at all.

Lea opened his and stared at the little ring before taking it out. "What's this?"

When Roxas didn't begin to explain, Sora took over. "It's a temperature gauge ring. It shows your body temperature and beeps when you're too cold or too hot."

Lea slid the ring onto his index finger. "Thanks," he said in a low, sincere voice.

Sora turned eagerly to Riku, handing him the long box with a ribbon. "Here," he said, smiling shyly.

Riku was tentative as he took the box from Sora. His fingers tugged the ribbon to unravel the bow. He lifted the lid and a low breath escaped his mouth.

Sora felt his heart begin to race, a strange feeling swelling up inside his chest as he watched Riku take up the handle.

"It's your Keyblade," he murmured. He didn't know why he'd phrased it like that. It was a replica of The Way To Dawn – Klei's weapon from _Keyblade Masters_. But it was _Riku's_.

A high-pitched squealing started, getting louder and louder in his ears. The room started wavering strangely.

"Sora?" Riku's voice echoed oddly. He saw his friend running towards him, the Keyblade disappearing in a swirl of light and darkness.

Light exploded in front of his eyes, and he felt the floor drop out from underneath him.

When his eyes opened, he was standing in a sterile white room. It was different from anything he'd seen. He looked around – there were strange black vines on the walls of the rooms, entangling around capsules made of jagged crystal. A computer stood at the narrow end of the room, emitting eerie black tendrils of darkness. He tried to move, but his body was trapped in something cold and hard.

Directly across from him, he saw Riku closed inside one of the capsules. He was awake, shouting and pounding on the trap with his fists.

"Riku!" He shouted, pressing his hand against the crystal in front of him.

The air around him lit up with light and a familiar squealing filled his ears. He felt woozy, the room tilting. The last thing he saw before his vision whited out was Riku slumping forward against his trap.

When his eyes cleared, he was standing in a completely white space. "… Naminé?"

The blonde was watching him with a sad, concerned look. "Sora."

"What's going on?" He asked, looking around.

"You're being reuploaded to Nemo – but I've paused it. I wanted to talk to you before it finished."

"Uploaded…? I don't under—"

She reached up and put a finger to his lips. "Don't worry about it. I just need you to listen for a little bit." She lowered her hand and, once it was clear he was keeping quiet: "I know you don't remember everything. Maleficent has everyone's memories locked up." She out a hand on her chest. "But she couldn't take mine."

"Who is…?"

"You wouldn't remember." She lowered her hand. "She's trapped us all here. But if we can break the spell early, we might have time to stop her."

"The _spell_? What is this, a video game?"

She giggled a little. "Look… I have powers over the world she's created. I can change things, make it easier."

"Make _what_ easier?" He asked, confused.

"Breaking the spell." She looked at him. "To the purest of hearts, True Love's Kiss is the most powerful magic – and it can remove any darkness."

"I don't understand."

"I'm going to change some things. So that things are easier to break the spell. You won't remember this conversation – and things will be different for you. But I'll try to keep it as similar as possible, to try not to trigger a break like this again."

He nodded. "Okay. I don't know what's happening. But if it's important…"

"It is. We're all counting on you, Sora."

The bright light filled his eyes again, and he felt himself floating away.

The sound of the school bell jolted him awake. He felt an elbow nudge into his side. "Sora, did you fall asleep again?"

He yawned, lazily shoving Roxas away from him. "Give me a break, Roxas." He grabbed his books for his morning classes and shut his locker again. "What were we talking about again?"

"Uh… I forget." Roxas shook his head. He grinned at his older twin and elbowed him again. "Race you to class? Loser has to buy everyone sea-salt ice cream!"

Sora laughed and broke into a run. He reached home room first and grinned back at his other. "I win!"

"Roxas! Sora!" They turned and grinned at Hayner, making their way over. "How was your spring break?"

Sora sat back with a yawn. It felt like just yesterday it was Christmas, and now it was halfway through to Summer already.

He sat up as Hayner nudged him. "You better be at the beach this weekend, Sora. Olette's bringing a friend for you! He wiggled his eyebrows.

Sora flushed in embarrassment as Roxas laughed at him. It was true – he felt lonely. Like something was _missing_ – but he wasn't sure one of Olette's friends being pushed at him was the solution.

The bell rang, and Sora separated from the others and headed off to his literature class. Professor Merlin was lost in his pile of books and paperwork as Sora said a quick hello and headed up to his desk at the back of the room.

He opened the new book, ignoring the class shuffling into the room. He paused as he saw a name pencilled in at the top of the page.

 _Riku Dawn_.

"Huh," Sora said, flipping the page. "Wonder who that is." He settled in to read, leaning back in his seat.


	18. Interlude: Lea, Alone

Lea opened the door, dropping his schoolbag and pushing it out of the way with his foot. He pulled his hoodie off and hung it off the hook on the back of the door.

There was no point doing homework. There was nothing to do, no one to talk to – unless he wanted to jump on the train to Neminem to see Kairi and Naminé.

He crossed to the spare bedroom and lifted up the squeaky floorboard to pull out his pile of books. His diaries, sort off.

They were more than just his thoughts and dubious feelings.

Written on the front cover in a blue pen, in a hand he didn't recognise, was a simple phrase: _She can't erase the words we write down._

And then, underneath in his own red writing: _Got it memorised?_

He flipped to the ribbon marking his place. He turned back to the last entry and a severe frown crossed his face.

 _December 24_ _th_ _. Sunday. 18 years old._

It couldn't be. It was the beginning of _April_.

He shook his head. Four months. What had she done with _four months?_

He settled back against the wall.

 _R.D + S.S + Rox over for S' Christmas. S + R as close as ever. Rox acting odd again: Being a jerk, still concerned about me being burned/ too cold. I still don't_ _understand_ _him._

 _Played board games and card games. S + R left early for 'alone time'. Spent time with Rox. He- - -_

 _Rox complaining of the cold. Won't let me sleep in the living room. Report on presents tomorrow._

"Who is 'R'?" He asked aloud. It clearly wasn't Roxas Strife, who was obviously the 'Rox' in the entry. 'S', obviously Sora, his twin brother. Now that he tried to recall, he _had_ spent Christmas with the Strife twins – but he couldn't remember _why_.

He flipped to the back to check his notes. It wasn't hard to find the right entry.

"Riku Dawn." He read. His first mention was September 1st, when Lea was 16 years old. Nearly a year and half ago.

 _A real person. Only friend. Confidante in the Nemo conspiracy._

On another line, clearly added later: _Massive Crush on Sora Strife._ The blue pen – who was obviously Riku himself, had marked an angry face next to it. Then the blue pen wrote again: _Sora's boyfriend since the Winter Ball._

At least he had another starting point. He flipped to his entry about the Winter's Ball. It was in two parts, one before the ball, the other the next morning.

 _Winter Ball. Sometime in December? 18 years old._

 _R too sick to go to ball. S staying with him tonight. Don't think N will like that – if I see her tonight, going to ask about illness._

 _Rox going with H. I'm still jealous – but whatever makes him happy. I hope R knows how lucky he is to have S._

The next entry was marked 10am the morning after.

 _Rox came home_ _with me_ _last night. Not H O P. Are we together now? He's still asleep, I'm writing this while I make coffee._

 _No interrogation last night. She asked me where Sora was and she was_ _annoyed_ _when I said he was with Riku. She caused the illness._

 _Warned me about R being with S. Why does she say they're not meant to be together? More investigation needed._

 _P.S. Need to borrow Marluxia's scarf. Caught sight of my reflection – THANKS, Roxas!_

He needed to go see Naminé. He flipped to a blank page and quickly scrawled notes for the day:

 _1_ _st_ _April. Monday. 18 years old._

 _Who is Riku Dawn? She's gotten rid of him – how and why? I'm going to Neminem to ask her now._

 _P.S. Does Roxas still have my virginity since she's erased that too?_

Because he searched his memories of that night. He remembered talking to Naminé, asking her about the illness. But both Sora _and_ Roxas had left with Hayner, Pence and Olette.

He hardly knew Roxas. They had classes together, but Lea was suspended more than half the time anyway. School was a hell of repetition and had been for years.

Apparently whoever Riku was, he'd meant that Lea had stopped screwing around at school so much – had made friends or something with the Strife twins. He was attracted to Roxas, could always tell where he was when they were in the same room. He felt this _pull_ towards the blond, but he'd pulled away from it. He'd had no friends since he'd sent them all to juvie – there was _no point_ in getting close to anyone. Half the time they turned out to have no personality anyway.

Maybe _that's_ what Riku had changed, he thought as he thrust open the door to Naminé's art shop.

She looked up, not even surprised to see him. "Axel. You're earlier than I expected." She set down her crayon and art book.

"What did you do with Riku, Naminé?" He demanded, approaching the counter.

"You're not supposed to remember," she said, matter-of-factly.

"What did you do, delete him?" He asked.

"No," she said, too calm. "I've moved him somewhere else. He'll be back before I know it – he never _could_ be kept away from Sora for long."

"But he can for long enough for your machinations to play out?"

She sighed. "I'm not your enemy, Axel. When all this is over, you'll all understand why this had to be done."

"Don't be so sure of that." He gave her a long look and turned to leave. He had to go write this down before she made him forget. And keep an eye on the Strife twins.


	19. Struggle

The day of the Struggle Competition, Sora got woken up rudely early. Roxas wanted to get down to the sandlot first thing and make sure his name was on the register. Factoring how long it took them to skateboard to the train station, Sora was up far earlier than he tolerated for any day other than Christmas.

They made it to the sandlot in good time – Roxas was one of the first names on the time sheet. That done, they had _hours_ to wait before the first matches.

"Breakfast?" Sora asked with a yawn.

"Always thinking about your stomach," his other laughed. "Come on. We'll find something to eat."

When they came back to the sandlot, there were more people milling around. They joined their friends. Sora grinned at Kairi and settled down to the sit next to her. Since the first weekend after Spring Break, she had been hanging out with them every weekend.

He liked her. She was a bit of an outsider with the Roxas-Hayner-Pence-Olette group. Like him. They spent a lot of time together.

He really liked her. She was fun and sweet and they got along like they'd been friends for years. But sometimes he felt like something was missing. When he was with her, he always turned to include someone else in their conversation. He brushed it off with the only explanation he could come up with: he was used to having Roxas by his side. That had to be it, right?

He was drawn to her – more and more every day. She was sweet and kind. She'd already become so important to him. Almost as important as Roxas.

Figuring out his crush on her had been easy. He was quick to figure out that she liked him in return. He'd been hoping later that afternoon that he could ask her on a date. Roxas had agreed to a double date – He planned to take Hayner to the movies Saturday night anyway.

Sora stuck by Kairi's side the entire day. Roxas blitzed through all his battles, and ended up facing Hayner in the semi-finals. They were grinning at each other and jumped into battle eagerly as soon as the whistle blew. Roxas won by a narrow margin and Sora cheered in excitement for his twin. He grabbed Kairi around the waist and swung her around in a circle. She laughed in delight, smiling up at him as they came to a stop.

A moment crackled between them. He looked into her eyes – they were so warm, and familiar. He glanced briefly down at her lips. A flush crossed his cheeks, darting back up to look in her eyes.

"Can I…?"

"Yes."

He leaned down to press their lips together. Before they could meet, he heard his other's voice call his name in a panic. He whipped around to look.

A big black monster was swelling up from a pool of shadows in the middle of the struggle ring. It was almost human-looking, but huge and hulking, with a gaping hole in its chest in the shape of a heart.

Sora didn't hesitate. He let go of Kairi and immediately began to run towards the monster. Roxas flipped his grip on the handle of the struggle bat, so the attacking end was pointed behind him. In a burst of light, the padded bat was gone. In his other's hand was a long weapon, curved slightly, with a long wing-like fan of teeth at the end. The blade sort of looked like a key.

 _A keyblade…_

As he thought the word, he felt a familiar weight settle in his hand. He jumped up towards the monster's face, swinging his weapon. He was only vaguely aware of the rest of the fight – Ven swiping at its midsection, the flash of flames as round chakrams took out the smaller ant-like creatures growing out of its pooled shadows.

The owner of the flames shouting: "I've got Kairi! You three take that thing out!"

 _Three?_

He became aware of a flash of silvery hair, and the clash of keyblades striking at the monster's hands. He turned his head to get a better look – and that's when an orb of darkness struck him in the side and sent him flying back towards the spectator seats.

"Sora!" That voice… It was so familiar. He felt something ease in his chest he hadn't even known was tight. A name floated on his tongue, just out of reach.

Dazed, his eyes caught on Ven as his other jumped up into the air and brought his keyblade down in a finishing blow. As the monster began to disintegrate, a familiar high-pitched squealing filled his ears.

Panic bubbling in his chest, his eyes desperately searched the fight-arena for him. The head of soft , silvery hair turned and he caught sight of beautiful blue-green eyes before he was blinded by bright white light.

When it cleared, the crowd was roaring with applause.

Roxas was in the middle of the ring, struggle bat following through a powerful swing. His opponent, a recent graduate named Seifer, was still flying through the air, soon landing with a cringe-inducing thud.

The announcer began to declare Roxas the winner.

"That happened, right?" He asked. "You all saw that?"

"Roxas kicking Seifer's ass? _Yeah_ , we all saw it!" Hayner answered.

Had it been a dream? The huge monster, the keyblades, the silver-haired guy? He rubbed the back of his head. "I've been playing too much _Keyblade Masters_."

He walked forward to help his other down from the platform. They both paused when they heard a slow, measured clap approaching.

"Roxas, alright! Fight, fight, fight!" They both turned, Roxas glaring suspiciously. The hooded stranger came to a stop, saying: "You really _don't_ remember." He pushed his hood back, revealing a familiar pale face and a shock of bright red hair. "It's me. Y'know – Axel."

"Axel?" Roxas echoed, confused.

"Lea!" Sora piped up. "You remember, Roxas – we spent Christmas together." Not that he remember _how_ they'd decided to do that.

Roxas' hand moved up to tug his neckline into place, but Sora suspected he was actually touching the X-shaped pendant he was wearing on a bit of leather underneath his shirt. "Lea, huh? Doesn't ring a bell," he said with a slight smirk.

"I'm only in _all_ _your classes_ ," Lea drawled.

"You obviously aren't that _memorable_ ," Roxas replied slyly. If Sora didn't know any better, he'd think he was _flirting_ with the redhead.

"If I had feelings, you'd be wounding me," Lea replied, rolling his eyes.

"What do you want, anyway?" Roxas asked.

"That was some fight, Roxas," he replied, looking down at first one twin, then the other. "A _sizeable_ opponent. Probably more that you could handle _on your own_."

Roxas' sharp inhale and tensing shoulders twigged Sora onto the fact that Lea wasn't talking about a Struggle match.

He gasped. "You saw it too!"

Lea just held a finger to his lips and passed an envelope to Roxas. "First prize includes a year of free skewers at my cart."

Roxas took the envelope from him and turned it over. Sora looked over his shoulder. In a messy hand was written one phrase:

 _She can't erase the words we write down_.

"Well, I'll see you both at my cart sometime soon." Lea turned and strode away, tugging his hood up.

Roxas opened the envelope and his frown deepened. He shoved the paper back in and handed it over. "Free food for a year? More your thing than mine."

Confused, Sora took the piece of paper out and unfolded it. It was torn out of a notebook, with a short paragraph scrawled in a much neater hand and a blue ink:

 _Struggle Finals. Spring – late? Date unknown. 18 years old.  
Monster appeared. Rox + S. fought – A.L. protected K. How did I get here? Rox defeated monster. White light and Struggle finals continue. No time to spare._

The last thing on the page was a neatly inked key, signed with the initials _R.D._

The movie had been good. Sora couldn't really remember what had happened – it was something called _Tron_ _Legacy_ , all about people inside computers.

The double date had been fine. He and Kairi had talked and flirted, held hands and she'd even cuddled up to him for the last bit of the movie where the kid had to leave his dad behind.

She'd headed off to use the bathroom, and the three of them hung out in the arcade. Sora was on some bike-racing game when he heard his other and Hayner talking in low voices just around the corner.

"Hayner… You've enjoyed dating me, right?"

"Yeah, of course!"

"But you've never wanted to be my boyfriend."

There was a short pause, and then Hayner replied in a care-free voice: "Do you want to be boyfriends?"

"You've never even tried to kiss me."

Another long pause.

"I think we'd both enjoy hanging out just as much even if we were only friends, don't you?"

"Yeah, sounds great, Roxas!"

Sora gasped, hardly noticing as his bike crashed and he lost. How could Hayner be so _chipper_ about the whole thing?!

"I'm going to head to the station. I have to get home. Bye, Roxas!"

A few moments after Hayner left, Roxas came over and settled onto the bike next to him. "You lost."

Sora peeked at his other. "Are you okay?" he asked carefully.

"Yeah, totally fine. Why do you ask?" He slotted in some money and started a game for them both.

"You just… you…" Sora turned to look at him properly. "I just heard you break up with Hayner."

Roxas shrugged. "I'm not upset."

"He said it _sounds great_ ," Sora said bitterly.

His other laughed. "Yeah, that's Hayner. Always happy to go along with whatever."

Sora squinted at him. "And you're going to be okay?"

He shrugged. "I watched you and Kairi tonight. It was your first date and you two were…" He shrugged, not knowing how to phrase it. "Hayner and I had been dating for six months – he's never even tried to make a move to hold my hand. He's so… _agreeable_. I don't want that."

"What _do_ you want?" The elder brother asked, keeping his eyes on the game screen instead of looking at him.

"Something… natural. A give-and-take, like you and Kairi."

"Do _you_ want Kairi?"

"No. She's not my type."

Sora had a heavy sense of déjà vu, but he shook his head to clear it. "Who _is?_ "

"I don't know yet," Roxas answered. "Someone who's not just going to blandly agree to everything I say. Someone who I can tell wants me when he looks at me. Someone who knows what he wants and isn't afraid to fight for it. Someone with _fire_."

Sora grinned. "Like Blaise from K _eyblade Masters III_?"

"Shut up," Roxas groaned. "Like you haven't scored your own Reina."

Who was…?

"There you are!" Kairi appeared. "I've been looking everywhere for you. Should've known to check the arcade. Where's Hayner?"

"He left," Roxas said, pumping his fist as he won.

Sora huffed. "I'm hungry."

"Of course you are," the other two said at the same time, then laughed with each other.

"Come on," Roxas said, standing up. "I still have that year of free food from what's-his-name's food cart. Might as well claim my prize now."

"You mean Lea?" Kairi asked, tucking herself into Sora's side. "He's set up on the way back to my place. Want to walk me home?"

They headed out, talking easily with each other. Lea's cart wasn't hard to spot – with its flashing _Flamin'_ sign.

The redhead was puttering about the small space inside the cart. Way before Sora thought the redhead should be able to hear them, he turned around and locked eyes on them.

Or, more specifically, on Roxas. The two of them kept eye contact as the group approached his cart. Lea leaned over the counter as they got close.

"Roxas."

The blond watched him carefully. "Axel."

"You really do remember me this time," he smirked, his voice sarcastic. "I'm so _flattered_." He glanced aside as his flame boiler roared to new life and coughed some smoke out of the little chimney. "Come to cash in your prize?"

"Yeah. Sora was hungry after our double date."

Lea gave him a lazy grin. "You sure you want to use up the whole lot at once?"

"Hey!" Sora protested. "I'm right here!"

A chuckle was all he could get in answer from his other. Lea shook his head in amusement. "It's about time for me to close up anyway. I'll make up everything I've got left for you. That'll have to do for your appetite, Sora."

"Can I have a s'more too?" He asked.

"How many hands do you think I have, Sora?" Lea asked, rolling his eyes.

"I can help," Roxas volunteered. Before the redhead could answer, he let himself in and went to the storage fridge. "S'more with everything, yeah?"

Sora settled down on the bench next to the cart – Kairi sat next to him, but the shape and presence next to him felt wrong somehow.

Before long Roxas was passing them a box of meat skewers and telling them the s'more would be ready soon. Then he retreated back to Lea's side.

"You're going to get burned if you get too close," Lea warned.

"I'm not afraid of a little heat," Roxas replied. "Besides, it can't be that hot. Your ring hasn't even gone off."

The rest of their conversation was too quiet to be heard.

Sora brought his attention back to Kairi. As they finished their food, he noticed a smudge of sauce on the corner of her lip. "You've got…" He gestured.

She reached up to wipe it away – on the _wrong_ side of her mouth. He chuckled and reached up to brush it away himself.

A moment flared between them and, glancing up at her eyes quickly, he leaned in to press their lips together.

He didn't make it before the scream.


	20. Are Dee Mystery

The scream was Kairi, as she was ripped backwards. His eyes snapped to who had grabbed her. Or rather _what_. It was some kind of monster with a cage-like mouth, and its tentacle shoved her inside. "Sora!"

His hand flexed, and he felt a familiar weight in his hand, and glanced down to see a keyblade materialising in his hand. He didn't stop to think about it. He jumped at the monster, keyblade swinging.

"Sora!" That was his other's voice. In a moment, he caught sight of him jumping into the fray. Even stranger when he saw Lea as well, tossing flaming chakrams in rapid succession.

After a particular blow in the right place, the cage mouth opened and Kairi tipped out of it towards the ground. Too fast. She'd land too hard. "Kairi!"

Before she broke her fall, a black-clad figure swooped in, catching her and setting her safely on her feet. She took a moment to steady her stance, then flicked her wrist. A flowery keyblade appeared in her hand, and she too jumped into the battle.

Sora looked at her rescuer as he tried to slash his way out of the tentacle wrapped around him. He was wearing black jeans and boots, and a black hoodie with the hood pulled so low his face was entirely obscured by shadows. The only identifying feature was the keyblade that appeared in his hand. It looked like a dragon's wing, but the key's teeth and half the handguard looked like an angel's wing.

He got a very up-close and personal with the weapon as the hooded figure jumped to cut him free.

Between the five of them, they made quick work of the monster. After it disintegrated, Sora rushed to Kairi's side to check she was okay.

"I'm fine," she said, smiling at him.

"… My cart," came a soft, defeated voice. The three of them turned to see what Lea was talking about.

The Flamin' cart was a crumpled mess of metal, smouldering and smoking. The air started rippling strangely, and a squealing filled Sora's ears.

Before he could lose focus, a hand grabbed his arm. "Sora."

The voice was familiar, and sent a shiver spreading across his skin. A second hand brushed his waist.

"You have to remember, Sora."

The air rippled more violently and the squealing in his ears becoming so loud he couldn't hear anything else.

He squeezed his eyes shut. "Riku!"He couldn't hear it, but he felt his voice, vibrating through his chest and throat.

When the noise stopped, something felt weirdly heavy around his head. The words **_DEMO COMPLETE_** were flashing on and off in front of his gaze.

"You can remove your helmets now."

Helmets? With one hand, Sora reached up to feel. The heaviness _was_ some sort of helmet with a visor that covered his eyes.

Still clutching his keyblade, he used his other hand to pull the visor up. They were in the arcade, and he was just holding a padded bar in his hand, not his keyblade. He put it back in the charging block built into the armrest of the recliner he was lying in.

"What…?" he murmured.

Naminé helped him take the rest of the helmet off. "It might take you a while to adjust. _Keyblade Masters Unchained_ is supposed to be the ultimate immersive Virtual Reality experience ever developed."

"Hayner left and then we went with Kairi to get food…" he trailed off.

"To Lea's cart," Kairi reminded him, removing her own helmet and giving him a smile. "Then after we finished eating, you three agreed to walk me home."

"Three?"

The person to his left lifted his helmet, and the vibrant red hair told him exactly who it was. Across the circle of chairs from Lea, Roxas tugged his helmet off as well.

"And then I caught you all and brought you back to the arcade so you could be the first to play the new VR _Keyblade Masters_!" Naminé said, smiling.

Sora didn't remember that at all – but it sounded as if it was true. He smiled and nodded, as if he accepted. He met Roxas' eyes and a single twitch of a blond eyebrow told him his other felt exactly the same.

"We'd better get going," he announced for them. "Sora and I need to be on the train back soon."

Kairi nodded, taking her twin's hand. "Okay. I'll see you on Saturday at the beach?"

"Are we still going to the beach?" He asked, his face screwing up. "But we just did the big Struggle tournament."

She giggled. "Yeah, but it's warm enough to swim now!"

Roxas nudged Lea's side. "What about you, Axel? What are you doing next weekend?"

The redhead frowned at the question and shifted away from his elbow range. "Same thing I do every weekend," he deadpanned. "Making a living so I can _eat_."

"Don't you do anything _fun_ , ever?" He teased.

"Sure I do," the redhead snarked. "On my time _off_."

Kairi rolled her eyes. "Goodnight, Sora." They exchanged a tight embrace, and then she left with the blonde girl.

Roxas and Lea led the way to the train station, snarking at each other playfully. Lea was calling the blond an entitled rich kid who had no idea about _real_ responsibility – and Roxas (who was nothing of the sort) was making ludicrous suggestions about how to get out of work.

They reached the station. "Give me a minute," Lea said, heading around to the side of the station to a set of locked roller doors. He unlocked one and sighed with relief as he saw his cart in good condition. "Thank fuck," he whispered.

"What did you expect?" Roxas asked in a tone of voice Sora recognised. One that they used when the two of them were talking about that no one around them knew. "Your cart trashed and burning on the side of the road?"

Sora exhaled quietly, startled. How did…? "You both remember?"

Roxas nodded, but Lea silently raised a finger and pressed it to his lips.

"One can never be too careful in this city," the redhead warned – although he sounded as if he was answering Roxas' question about the cart. He peeled off his fireproof gloves and left them on the counter before locking up again.

The blond's eyes clocked his fingers and pursed his lips ever so slightly.

"Something you want to say, _Rock-sass_?" He asked, lips turning up in a smirk.

"No," Roxas said defensively, "nothing."

"Good." Lea grabbed the collar of his t-shirt and tugged it down, hooking a finger through a jagged chain and pulling it out. A familiar ring was hanging from it, and he unclasped the chain to take it off and slip it on his finger. It gave a warm beep as it registered Lea's body temperature.

"Come on," Roxas said, rolling his eyes. "Let's go before we miss the train home."

Sora was up early, couldn't make himself get back to sleep. Even Roxas was still asleep, bundled up in the blankets despite the warming temperature.

He got up and gathered armfuls of clothes from their bedroom floor. Might as well put some laundry in. He checked the pockets, finding an assortment of items he dumped in a plastic tub on a shelf.

But then, in the pockets of last night's pants, he found a note.

It was neatly folded, on unfamiliar paper. But the words were familiar, the handwriting looked as if he knew it, though he couldn't pick from where.

Forgetting the laundry, he raced upstairs to their bedroom. He yanked open Roxas' drawer and shifted around its contents until he found the envelope Lea had given his other after the Struggle championships. The words were exactly the same, but the handwriting on the envelope was different – much messier. When he unfolded the letter inside, the neat penmanship matched the quote on his folded note.

"R.D.," Sora said in a shaky voice.

Carefully, he unfolded the note.

 _Sunday, after Struggle. Spring, date unknown. 18 years old._

 _Here again with S., Rox, L. + K. Another monster. Will try to get this note to S. Why did she bring me here again? Do they remember me at all?_

 _Have to find my way back here._

 _—_ _R.D._

At the bottom of the page was another keyblade, this one looking like the one Roxas used during the game.

He flattened the note with shaky hands. No, clearly it had not been a game. A game character couldn't put a note in his pocket for real.

"Sora?" Roxas asked tiredly. "What are you doing?"

Sora handed him the notes and watched him intently as he read the notes carefully.

"When did you get this?" He asked carefully.

"From the guy in the hood. Before we—"

" _Went to the arcade_ ," Roxas hinted. Right, they didn't know if 'She' could hear what they said aloud.

"Yeah. He slipped it in my pocket before we left Lea's cart."

Roxas folded the notes back up. "Can I show these to Axel?"

Sora nodded. "Just bring them back to me. Please?" He didn't know why it was so important for him to keep them close, but he felt like he needed to.

His other nodded, and they moved to get ready for school. On the school bus, Roxas and Hayner chatted as easily as ever. Sora struggled to understand it.

When they reached their locker, Lea wasn't around.

"Is he still suspended?" Sora whispered.

Roxas fiddled with the redhead's lock, and soon had it open. "There's stuff in here." He took the notes out and, tucking the second note inside the envelope, left it propped up on the upper shelf, at Lea's eye-line. "If he's here, I'll talk to him in Chem."

They parted ways after homeroom – Sora was restless and distracted all throughout Lit and only relaxed when Roxas caught him between classes and handed him the envelope.

In Math, Sora hid behind his textbook and emptied the envelope. Inside were the two notes from the envelope and a page torn from a notebook with Roxas' and Lea's handwriting all over it.

At first it was his other's handwriting – hurried and messy like he was in a rush, no matter how much time he had – asking if the recipient had found the envelope.

The reply was in the same hand as the front of the envelope. Written in red ink, Lea's question about how they'd gotten the note was written in wild text, fat at the base and flicking curls upwards.

Once Roxas had explained how they'd gotten it, he asked if Lea knew who R.D. was.

 _It's a long story,_ Lea wrote in reply to that.

 ** _We've got time_** , from Roxas.

 _Meet me at lunch. With S. We all have a lot to talk about. Bring sunglasses if you've got them._

 ** _Where?_**

 _Under the willow tree._

Sora could barely sit through Math and Chemistry. He shifted constantly in his seat, foot tapping impatiently. When the lunch bell rang, he ran immediately out to the willow tree.

Roxas and Lea arrived together, the both of them silent and serious. Once they were close enough, Roxas silently handed his other a pair of prank glasses with a fake nose. Confused, he pushed them onto his face. "Why?"

"Your eyes can't lie," Lea replied, tugging up the hood of his jacket.

Roxas settled against the trunk of the tree, closing his eyes. "So now we're hidden from _Her_ , whoever she's supposed to be."

"For now. We were never sure _exactly_ how well this hides out memories from N.," Lea replied in a low voice.

"We?" Sora asked, at the exact moment his other asked "N.?"

"We," Lea replied, nodding, "Me, and R.D."

"You know who R.D. is?" Sora asked eagerly.

"Not exactly," he answered. "I don't remember exactly. All I have is what I wrote down in my journals about him."

"Your journals?" Roxas asked with a smile.

"Written records of the daily and weekly routines of everyone I know and any variations." He shrugged.

"Sounds like an encyclopaedia!" Sora groaned.

"It's a few notebooks, but not as much as you're imagining. If you took long enough, you find out almost everything stays exactly the same. And I've lived here eighteen years."

"So what?" Roxas asked, while Sora was still trying to process.

"And then some things didn't add up. My memories say one thing, but my journals say another. Then the different memories don't quite fit in place. Like a puzzle piece that's the wrong shape.

Sora's heart was racing. "Or a link in a chain that's made of a different metal…"

Lea nodded. "But sometimes a whole chain gets replaced with the new metal, and until you look back and see a link that was meant to be silver, you don't notice the chain is wrong."

Sora nodded in complete understanding, but Roxas complained. "You've lost me."

"Okay, example. Answer with the first thing that pops into your head. Don't think about the answer."

Roxas scowled. "Fine."

"What did you buy your recipient for Christmas?"

"Art supplies."

"What did Sora get for Christmas?"

"A meow-wow plush." The 'duh' in his tone of voice was obvious.

"And whose name did you get for Christmas?"

"Sora." There was an expectant pause, then Roxas threw his eyes open, startled. "But that's…!"

Lea rolled his eyes and covered Roxas' eyes for him. "My journal says that R.D. was with us for Christmas. And that one flaw – the mismatched puzzle piece, the silver chain link – tells me my journals aren't the wrong one."

"So who's R.D.?" Sora asked anxiously.

Lea paused. "I don't think I'll tell you. If you know his name, you might accidentally use it for someone to hear and then N. will try to get rid of him – better this time."

It wasn't fair! Sora opened his mouth to argue, but Roxas spoke before he could: "So, the four of us. Me, you, Sora and him. We were all friends, right?"

Lea cleared his throat. "Something like that."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Roxas demanded.

"I mean the exact specifications of who was being _friendly_ with who was ever-changing and highly complex. But in the sense that Sora liked us all and the four of us hung out repeatedly? Yeah. We were friends."

Roxas pushed one eye open to squint at Lea. Then he closed it again. "So why would she get rid of R.D.?"

"Whatever N.'s agenda is, and I'm not exactly sure what it is, his being around and what was happening because of it, was preventing her from succeeding. She confirmed as much at the Winter Ball. I wrote it down."

"What was he doing that was so bad?" Sora asked in a soft voice. His chest was aching, and he didn't know why.

Lea glanced at him sadly. "It wasn't bad in itself. It just didn't work out for her plans."

Roxas cleared his throat. "So what does all that have to do with these monster attacks, and the keyblades?"

"That, you know as much as I do. I can't explain it at all, or even guess at why it's happening. Almost feels like it comes from another world entirely." Lea shook his head. "Whatever it is, N. made up _Keyblade Masters Unchained_ to explain it. She expects it to happen again. If we want to get R.D. back, then fighting those monsters is the way to do it."


	21. Interlude: Ven and Lea 3

He may not have Riku running around anymore to conspire and investigate the situation going on with any more, but after that first meeting, Roxas started moving in on that territory. In the more boring lessons, the blond would shift closer in their seats and pass notes. He started out with not-so-subtle questions to confirm his suspicions about who N. was. Then he started interrogating Lea about what it was she was changing about the world, what strange things had led to him noticing something was wrong.

He did his best to answer, but frequently had to tell the blond that he didn't have all the answers on hand, and would need to check over his journals for all the answers.

The week of their first conspiracy, Lexaeus started wrapping up dodgeball season. Not that Lea had bothered to attend these classes. The walls were absolutely covered in indentations in the concrete from the impacts from the dodgeballs. They replastered every summer break, but it always ended up that bad. He could hold his own, but he preferred to avoid another concussion.

Roxas had always skipped classes, but though they hid behind the bleachers, they'd always kept their distance. Or at least as far as their memories told him. His journal might've hinted something else, but it hadn't been clear.

But from Monday, Roxas had invited himself to join him under the outside window. He quickly stubbed out his cigarette before the blond could get close – exhaling his last lungful out the window and pulled his arm back inside.

Blue eyes hovered over the homework splayed around him and raised his eyebrows silently. Lea lazily flipped him off. He shoved everything back in a messy pile and glared at Roxas as the blond settled onto the crashmat beside him. They didn't talk that first afternoon, but the next day Roxas had tugged a deck of cards out of his pocket.

On Thursday, they were comfortable enough to have a quiet, murmured conversation over their card games.

"So. How's the setting things on fire business?" Roxas asked, not looking up from the cards.

Lea stared at him. "Same as it always is. Fun to cook, a nightmare to deal with the dinner rush. _Why_?"

"Just asking – chill out, Hothead," Roxas replied, rolling his eyes. "You're so _touchy_. Are you like this with all of your friends?"

"I don't _have_ friends," he muttered, glaring at the cards in his hands. "Not anymore."

"Was R.D.?" Roxas asked hesitantly.

Lea sighed, reaching back to tug his hair into proper order. "Yes. We were."

"'Cause it feels weird sometimes," the blond continued, uninvited. "That I'm the one seeking your attention, and you're brushing _me_ off."

He shrugged, avoiding his eyes. It was true – his journals made it clear that Roxas had been the one rebuffing his overtures towards friendliness. He couldn't imagine why he'd bothered. He was doomed to be alone, he wasn't going to get used to company.

"Sora's your friend," Roxas pointed out quietly.

"Sora is also friends with the dog that hangs around the train station."

The blond smiled gently. "He named him Pluto."

He was in no way surprised. "My point exactly."

They were quiet for a few rounds of cards. Then Roxas started again: "So, dinner rush at Flamin'?"

"Mhm," he said. "It's damn hard to cook and serve a hundred customers at the same time."

"You could hire someone to help you out at dinner time," Roxas pointed out.

"I can't afford to. I can barely turn enough profit to feed myself, I'm not going to pay anyone else and starve in the meantime."

The blond was silent. As Lea shuffled the cards anew, he spoke again: "We used to hang out here, didn't we? Before R.D. went away. This feels so familiar."

"You should trust that feeling," he said. "All your feelings. I find they're much more reliable with N. in the mix."

"Did you really just tell me to follow my heart?" Roxas asked, the mocking smirk clear and audible in his voice.

"Well," he said, gritting his teeth. "I wouldn't phrase it like that." He handed the blond the shuffled cards to deal. "But so long as you're making me a sap: _May your heart be your guiding key!_ "

The cards exploded out of his hands, spraying out across the mat around them.

"What?" Lea asked. Looking at him in startled surprise.

Roxas' face was pale, eyes unfocused as he sat in silence. He was shaking, ever so slightly. Lea reached out to take his arm – and then in a quick burst of movement, he was pinned on the mat, one arm pressed against his throat. He held up his hands and choked out: "Roxas."

The blond's eyes cleared, and then focused on Lea beneath him. "Sorry," he said, pulling his arm back. "You surprised me."

"Didn't realise that was a death sentence," the redhead said dryly. Roxas still hadn't moved. Lea couldn't help but feel how familiar it was, Roxas above him, pressed close and warm. By a look in the blue eyes above him, he suspected Roxas was feeling the same. "Are you going to get off?"

Roxas' tongue peeked out to dampen soft pink lips. "Mm…" He shifted his eyes up to meet Lea's. "What did you say?"

Lea was disconcerted to find his hands on the blond's hips, and used them to push him off. "Off."

Roxas moved away, giving Lea a long, intense look – obviously trying to work something out. The redhead cleared his throat and started gathering up the cards. Neither of them looked at each other for the rest of the day.

On Saturday evening, as the sun was setting, Lea felt a spark shoot down his spine. Turning his head slowly, he looked over his shoulder and locked gazes with sky-blue eyes, and turned as Roxas came up to the cart – his brother and Kairi in tow.

"Hi, Lea!" Sora greeted brightly.

"Good day at the beach?" He asked, leaning against the countertop to get closer to his level.

"Yeah!" the older twin continued. "We're all going to the arcade now."

Lea's eyes broke from Roxas', glancing at the clock above the register. He groaned. "Have fun. I've got to get ready for the dinner rush."

He puttered about the space, sorting out as much as he could to get through dinner rush with as little effort as possible.

"Okay, see you later, Lea!"

Lea called goodbye to them and kept going. But his hyperawareness didn't calm down, and when he felt the weight of the cart shift he whipped around.

Roxas was stepping up into his cart as if he were welcome. "R.D. used to help you with the dinner rush, yeah?"

Lea glared at him suspiciously. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure."

"Then until he comes back, you can have me."

His eyes narrowed. "I can't afford to pay you."

"I know." Roxas smirked and stepped into place behind the cash register. "Customers are coming, Axel. Do you want me or not?"

What a good question. Still glaring, he gave a shallow nod.

"Good. Then let's get to work."


	22. Birthday (repost)

Spring went by, and Summer came in full force. The air grew hot and sticky with humidity – their friends complained of being too hot, but Sora enjoyed the reminder of home. Every weekend they went to the beach on Saturday afternoon, and Sora would spend the evening hanging out with Kairi while Roxas ran the dinner rush with Lea. They'd head back to Peninsula Nemo – sometimes they'd spend the night with Lea, and sometimes (less and less as the weather heated up) they'd go back home to Cloud's house. On Sundays they'd play Keyblade Masters, and every so often, Kairi would join them.

It was a comfortable routine, but he couldn't help but feel something was missing. Someone.

He noticed a pattern he didn't share with the others. The monsters only appeared when he tried to kiss Kairi. R.D always showed up to help them vanquish the monster – and whether through Lea or Sora, he would always leave a note. Proof he was there, with a keyblade sketched at the bottom. First Sora's, then R.D.'s, then Kairi's, then Ven's – and last of all, something new. It had to be Lea's, though Sora had never seen him use one. The handle looked like his chakram, with a burst of flame curling up to form the shaft and teeth of the keyblade.

He needed to find R.D – and find out who he was. After the note with Lea's keyblade, he decided to help. He found a map of the city and the peninsular, marking out where Lea set up his lunch cart.

After the next fight, he gripped R.D.'s arm. It was muscular underneath the sleeve of his black hoodie. "Sora?"

He shifted close, eyes locking on the only part of R.D.'s face he could see – thin, bow-shaped lips, the bottom lip thicker than the top, giving them an almost pouty look. They seemed so familiar. The usual squealing filled his ears, and Sora quickly shoved the map into his pocket.

When everything cleared, Sora jolted awake on Lea's couch. He rubbed his eyes, watching Lea and Roxas stir on the other end of the couch.

Lea groaned. "Did she have to make me tired?" He grumbled. He fished under his couch until he took out a notebook. He flipped to a blank page as he yawned. "Do either of you know the date?"

Roxas just shook his head, while Sora thought about it. "The fourteenth of June?"

Lea penned it down. He glanced back at the last page. "Hm. The school week was only three days again." He wrote out his notes, pen constantly flicking upwards with his handwriting. He held the pen between his teeth. "What's R.D.'s note say?"

"Uh…" Sora checked his pockets. "I didn't get one."

Lea checked his own pockets, then carefully took his pen out of his mouth. "Neither."

Roxas scratched his head. "Sora," he said. "The fourteenth."

Lea looked between them. "What's so special about the fourteenth?"

"It's a week until our birthday!" Sora cried excitedly.

"On Sunday?" Lea asked, adding it to his daily entry. "On the twenty-first? That's the Midsummer Festival." He capped his pen. "I guess I'll have to man the cart alone for the festival then. You two should go – I'm sure you'll enjoy it." He yawned and stood up. "I'm going to bed."

Tucking the notebook under the couch, he headed towards his bedroom.

"Goodnight!" Sora called after him.

Once Lea's bedroom door was closed, Roxas reached under the couch and took out the notebook.

"Roxas! What are you doing?" Sora whispered.

"Come on, aren't you curious? He won't tell us everything, don't you want to find out?"

"It's his diary, Roxas!"

"It's his investigative journal," his other replied, rolling his eyes. He flipped through the pages. "Where should we start?"

Sora turned away. "I'm not going to be part of this."

"'Winter Ball'," Roxas read aloud. " 'R. too sick to go to ball. S. staying with him tonight. Don't think N. will like that.' " He looked up at Sora. "You didn't go to the ball, Sora."

"But that's the night I met Kairi!"

"You didn't meet her then," Roxas said, shaking his head. "You weren't there."

"But I remember…"

Roxas turned to look at him. "What colour tie was Axel wearing that night?"

"What? I don't…"

"What flavour was the punch, Sora?"

"Roxas, what—"

"Do you remember anything about that night, Sora? Other than meeting Kairi?"

His heart was racing. He squeezed his eyes shut. "Why? Why would she do that?"

"Maybe Axel…" he murmured. "I'll keep reading." He cleared his throat. " 'Rox going with H. I'm still—'" Roxas cut himself off, a gasp escaping his lips.

"Roxas?" Sora asked, concerned. His other shook his head, his expression totally blank.

He read silently for a little while, then looked up at his other. "You were with him. With R.D. N. wasn't happy about it. I think… I think she got rid of R.D. so you could be with Kairi."

Sora squeezed his eyes shut. "No… I love Kairi."

"I know you do," Roxas said gently. "That's not fake. What you're feeling, it's real. It just… started wrong."

"I don't want to think about this," Sora whispered. He stood up. "I'm going to bed. I can't…"

Roxas nodded. "Okay." His fingers clenched on the notebook. "I'm going to keep reading. Goodnight, Sora."

Sora went to bed, but he didn't sleep. He lay with his eyes closed, thinking and exploring his feelings. Roxas never came to bed.

When he smelt coffee in the morning, sometime after sunrise, he got up and headed into the kitchen.

Lea and Roxas were in the kitchen, looking sleep-mussed but well rested. They were silent, watching each other over mugs of coffee.

"Roxas…?"

The two of them looked at him.

"Sora," his other said, coming over to help him into his seat. "You look awful. Did you get any sleep?"

"No," he groaned, lying on the table.

"Do you want coffee?" Lea offered.

"No," Roxas said quickly. "Never give Sora coffee ever."

"I'm going to break up with Kairi," he blurted. The other two froze, turning to look at him. "It started off fake. I can't trust that anything after has been real."

"Don't you think that's a little far?" Lea asked quietly. "The first link in the chain might be fake, but the rest of it is real."

"I can't be sure of that," Sora said, putting a hand on his cheek. "She took feelings for someone else, and she chained then up with Kairi. I don't know what was her and what was… the other person."

"R.D.," Roxas explained. "Before Christmas, you were with him."

"I thought so," he said quietly. "I know it in my heart."

Lea looked between them. "N. isn't going to be happy about this, you know that right?"

"We'll deal with it," Roxas said, determined.

Lea grunted in irritation. "Of course **you'd** say that," he snapped at Roxas angrily. "She doesn't screw around with your life. You still had your boyfriend and your brother and his friends!"

"I didn't have you," he replied in a soft voice.

"You didn't want me around before anyway!" the redhead snarled at him, eyes ablaze. "She took everyone from me, Roxas! I was all alone until you decided to throw me a bone again!"

Roxas's expression shuttered. "Is that what you think?"

"Please," Sora interrupted quietly. "Please, can we stop fighting?"

Roxas and Lea glared at each other for a long moment. The redhead looked away first, draining his coffee and getting to his feet. "I'm going to get ready for work. You can let yourselves out."

"See you later, Lea," Sora called.

"Sure. If you can remember who I am."

Roxas was quiet the rest of the day. He went with Sora to Neminem City – but sat outside with Naminé as Sora sat down with Kairi for their private talk.

"What's wrong, Sora?" She said in a gentle voice, taking his hand.

He looked at her face. It was a familiar, treasured sight. He knew he loved her, that she was dear to him – but he had to do this. He had to know.

"I'm breaking up with you," he said quietly.

Her beautiful eyes widened. She gave him a hurt look. "I don't understand. Why?"

"I don't want to hurt you, Kairi. But… lately—" He sighed and shook his head. "No. Not lately. Since the beginning, my heart has been confused."

"Sora," she said gently. "If there's someone else, I don't mind. I know there's room in your heart for me among anyone else."

He squeezed her hand, and then let it go. "I'm sorry. My feelings are all mixed up. I don't know what's yours, and what's someone else. I need time, to clear my head." He sighed and met her eyes again. "I'm not going to ask you to wait – I want us to start again from the beginning."

She smiled at him. "I'd like that too, Sora."

He left soon after. Roxas stood up as he came out, his face stony. Naminé looked ashamed, but she was silent as they left together.

"Roxas…?"

"She's not going to screw around with our memories anymore," he said. "She'll still reset the world after the monsters attack, but we'll remember."

"You spoke to her?" Sora asked.

He nodded, and shoved his hands into his pockets. "I'm going to go find Lea. He needs help, and I need him to know I'm not going to disappear."

Sora looked at his other carefully. "Ven?" He said gently. "Do you…?"

"I do." He looked up at the sky. "And I feel brave enough to face it now."

"You're not afraid of being hurt again anymore?"

His other chuckled. "I'm terrified. But I know now – what happened to Terra; and Aqua, wherever she is – that's not going to happen again."

Sora squeezed his other's hand, proud of his progress. "And Lea?"

"Lea." A smile crossed his lips. "I'm tired of pretending that Axel isn't already in my heart." He pressed a hand to his chest.

"May your heart be your guiding key."

He looked up at the sky, at the heart-shaped moon still visible in the afternoon blue.

"And if he hurts you, I'll always be here to shelter you until you're ready to be on your own again."

Sora stood in front of Lea, hands on his hips. The redhead looked at him from the roots of the willow tree. He stubbed out his cigarette quickly.

"Yes, Sora?" He asked, blowing out a lungful of smoke away from the brunet.

"You told Roxas you couldn't come to the Midsummer Festival tomorrow," Sora accused.

He rubbed the back of his head, messing up the red spikes. "Yeah. I said it." He folded his arms, looking down at him. "I have to work the cart. I don't have much choice."

"It's our birthday," Sora said stubbornly. "You have to be there."

Lea sighed. "Sora. Midsummer is my most profitable night of the year."

"Is money more important to you than Roxas?" Sora demanded.

"Being able to afford food, or a blond who's used me a few times?" He sneered sarcastically. "Gee. I wonder."

Sora clenched his fist. "How dare you talk about him like that." He raised his chin and glared at Lea defiantly. "I don't **care** if you're protecting yourself. You're not going to be cruel."

Lea's eyes narrowed angrily but his face was otherwise unreadable.

Sora took a breath, and let his usual warm smile cross his face. "I don't know exactly what's going on between the two of you. But I know Roxas would be so happy if you could spend time with us at the festival."

Lea's face spasmed through a few half-emotions he was clearly trying to repress. "Who says I care about his happiness at all?"

Sora just grinned. "You know Roxas doesn't believe your whole uncaring act either?" He asked.

Irritation flashed over his expression. "What act?" He seethed.

Sora's grin widened. "So. Do you want to meet us at the station or the beach?"

"I never said I was going!"

He grinned cheekily. "It'll be our secret. Roxas's birthday surprise." He turned and walked away from Lea, who was silent behind him.


	23. Midsommer

"Can't we just stay at home?" Roxas complained. "It's our birthday. I don't want to spend it with a crowd of strangers."

"We've already told Hayner and Pence we'll meet them there," Sora pointed out. Roxas sighed. "Okay. We'll only stay until the launch of the lanterns, alright? After that, we can go if you're still not having a good time."

"Not one minute longer!" Roxas warned. He finished lacing up his shoes and stood. "Come on. Cloud gave us munny for a taxi."

The train station was absolutely crowded with people. It seemed like the whole Peninsular was travelling to Neminem for the festival. Sora held his other's hand, knowing how this large crowd must be bugging him.

Neminem was no less busy. The line for the tram was just as long, and he didn't question it as Roxas led him away down the hill.

"There is no way I'm getting through this without coffee," he complained. "Let's go to Starmunny."

But when they turned up, the shop was closed and dark. Roxas let out a colourful array of swearwords and kicked the locked door. "This is bullshit!"

"Ven," Sora said quietly. "Calm down." He touched his other's arm. "There's bound to be a coffee stall there."

Roxas followed him down the steep stairs, until they reached the large sandlot that the Struggle Tournament had been held. It was less crowded than Sora had expected it to be – plenty of space to wander around and look at all the different stalls and displays.

He was disappointed when he saw Flamin' setup at the close end. But he still pointed it out to his other. "Let's go see Lea. If you're lucky, he's selling coffee tonight. You love his coffee."

"I do," Roxas conceded.

He led his other to the food cart. The line was, admittedly very long. Lea hadn't been kidding about his potential profits for the night.

"We'll just pop to the front and say hi," Sora said, grabbing his arm. "He won't mind."

When they stopped by the register, they came to a surprised stop. There were three triplets moving about the cart – each of them wearing different coloured sweaters.

"Where's Lea?" Sora whispered, confused.

The redhead slipped out of the shadows. "I thought I'd see you here at some point." He avoided both twins' gazes as he handed them both a metal thermos engraved with their names. "Here."

Roxas took his suspiciously. "Why are they running your cart?" He demanded.

Naminé owed me a favour. I called it in." He stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Sora invited me. I've never actually been before, except to sell food."

Roxas didn't reply. He unscrewed the lid to his thermos and greedily drank. The ease of his shoulders told Sora it was coffee.

"Yours is cacao," Lea murmured to him. "Happy birthday."

They wandered through the stalls – Roxas seemed much more at ease with Lea by his side.

As the sun began to drift towards the horizon, Lea grabbed two lanterns. "They'll be launching the lanterns when the sun's set," he explained. "Most people go down to the beach. But it can be a little crowded."

Sora squeezed his brother's hand. "Is there anywhere else to go?"

"They launch them from all over the city. From boats in the harbour to the towers of Castle Oblivion…" Lea trailed off, his expression growing calm and still. Then a brief smile. "I've got somewhere in mind. Hurry, we want to catch the quick tram all the way up."

Twenty minutes later, they emerged at the top of the clock tower above the station. Sora heard his other give a shaky exhale, and when he glanced to see Roxas steadying himself on Lea's arm.

"I know its high up," the redhead was saying. His voice was low and soft – Sora could barely hear it, but couldn't help but strain to hear every word. "I'll keep you safe. Hold onto me, as long as you need to. I'll do everything I can."

Sora looked away with a hidden smile. Roxas wasn't afraid of heights, not in the slightest. Whatever _had_ startled him, Sora was happy to keep his tongue and let this bring them close to each other. He'd made a secret plan to get Roxas a present he wouldn't ask for: Axel Lea. At the least, his company for Midsommer – in time, his heart. It would make his other happy, and Roxas deserved to be happy.

Lea settled, very confidently, on the edge of the tower. Roxas settled next to him. He sat on the other side of his twin. "Wow. What a view!"

"Just wait until you see it with all the lanterns afloat," Lea explained. He passed the twins one of the lanterns each, and a stick of charcoal. "They tell the kids to write a wish on the lantern, and send that wish out onto the world." He smiled. "They stop telling you that when you're in high school, but since it's your first Midsommer I thought you ought to have the full experience. Besides," he gave a cheeky grin. "A wish can never hurt, right?"

Sora grinned and took the charcoal. But he paused before he let the black stick touch the paper on the frame. What should he wish for?

He had everything he knew to ask for – especially with the presents from today. But what didn't he have? What did he want?

Kairi wasn't his girlfriend anymore – though they were still good friends. He didn't have his proper memories, but a wish on a lantern couldn't give him that. So, who did remember? Naminé, obviously – but she would never tell him, for whatever reason she had. It had to be a good one. Enough for her to remove a whole person – to erase all their memories of him. Of R.D.

R.D., of course. What better wish than doing something for someone else?

Carefully, making sure he didn't tear the thin paper of the lantern, he wrote the two mysterious initials. Then he turned to tell the other two he was done.

Lea was pressed close to his other, looking over his shoulder at what he was writing. "What's that? A star?"

"It's a Wayfinder," Roxas replied. "It's an old charm. If you and your friends carry one, you'll always be able to find each other."

Lea went quiet for a moment. Then he drew back a little, taking his lighter from his pocket. "I hope you get reunited with them soon."

He reached into the lantern. The flames leapt to life, and a soft beeping sounded. Roxas' eyebrows twitched slightly, but he didn't speak as Lea lit the other lantern.

"The sun's setting," the redhead explained. "Look."

Sora looked. From this high up, it looked like there were stars raising from the ground. He gasped, flooded with wonder. It was beautiful. He felt his hand grasping, reaching to hold someone's – but it only grasped the empty air.

"Ready to launch?" Lea asked quietly. "Just bat the bottom up like a balloon."

Sora took a deep breath and released his lantern, his wish, into the air. He watched it as long as he could, until it joined the flock of other lights until he couldn't tell which was his anymore.

He closed his eyes and opened his heart. _Bring him home,_ he whispered in his mind. _Let him come back to us._

He opened his eyes and watched the lights until they all disappeared.

...

Across the sea, a lone figure stood alone on an empty beach. His head of pale hair was lifted towards the sky, watching a thousand lanterns float across the sky. His eyes followed one as it fell from the group, drifting slowly down until it landed at his feet.


	24. Isa

The next weekend, they went to the beach with their friends again. They splashed about in the waves, laughing and playing until the sky began to turn orange and pink.

Sun kissed, their skin sticky with dried seawater, they headed up the tram. They left Hayner and Pence at the train station and walked Olette and Kairi home.

Naminé came to the front door, looking pale and shaken. She clutched Roxas' arm as her sister headed inside the gates. "Something's going wrong," she whispered, terrified.

The twins helped her to a nearby seat, and she sat down, trembling. "There's a new force at work, I can feel it," she continued. "Someone new. Changing things. Please, you have to be careful!"

"It's okay, Naminé," Sora said softly. "We'll be careful. We have Lea – between all of us, we can look out for anything strange. We promise."

They didn't leave until Kairi came back and took care of her sister.

The walk back to Lea's cart was quiet. Roxas wrote in a little notebook – detailing the things Naminé had told them. Sora knew he'd share it with Lea. The two of them were always conspiring, collaborating together about their situation.

"What are you going to do while we run the dinner service?" Roxas asked.

"I don't know," he replied. "Maybe I'll go to the arcade and play for a bit."

But he was destined not to. When they turned a corner to Lea's cart, Roxas came to a stop.

Lea's laughter was joyous – freer than Sora had ever heard him before. Before long, he saw why.

Lea was outside the cart, and he wasn't alone. Next to him was a similarly freakishly tall guy with long blue hair styled back from his face. Most noticeably, he had an X-shaped scar on his face between his eyebrows. Lea had one arm slung over his shoulder, the other one waving about the air as he spoke.

Sora had never seen him look so _alive_ before. He followed his other's slow approach, feeling Roxas tense as the stranger's arm closed around the redhead's skinny waist.

"Who's this?" Roxas demanded suspiciously as they got close.

Lea beamed. "Hey guys! Isa, this is Sora and Roxas. Guys, this is Saix Isa, my oldest and dearest friend. He's just come back to the city.

"Come back from where?" Roxas interrogated.

"Chill out, Roxas," Lea said, beginning to frown.

"No," Isa said. "It's okay." His voice and face seemed completely devoid of emotions. "I'm not ashamed. "I've just been released from a juvenile detention centre."

"Juvie," the blond echoed, his face wrinkling up. "Classy."

Sora nudged his other in the ribs. Hard. "It's nice to meet you, Isa. I hope we can all be friends."

He only got an expressionless nod in return.

"We should start prepping for dinner rush," Roxas said, his glare hard.

Lea awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. "Uh. About that. I was going to close up early – Isa asked me to show him around the city. See if anything's changed."

The blond shifted the recipient of his glare to the redhead. "So much for needing to eat so you don't starve."

"I can take _one night off_ ," Lea replied, half-mumbling as he avoided Roxas' gaze.

Isa's hand moved from holding Lea's waist to taking up his hand. "Especially since I'll be moving in."

That earned him a beaming grin from the redhead. "Yeah. It'll be just us against the world again."

"The world's not _against_ you, asshole," Roxas snapped. He turned sharply away. "Come on, Sora. We're not wanted here tonight." He stormed off.

"Roxas!" Lea called after him, annoyed.

But his other didn't stop. Sora shifted. "Uhh. I better go with him. Goodnight, Lea, see you later." He smiled at Isa and then hurried off after Roxas.

"Stupid jerk," Roxas was muttering as he caught up.

"That's not fair. You only just met the guy," he pointed out.

"I'm not _talking_ about Saix," Roxas snarled, "Though he's probably just as much of a heartless bastard as Axel is."

"So that's the way you really think about me."

Roxas stiffened. The both of them turned slowly. Lea was standing a few feet away from them, expression totally blank, and green eyes devoid of any sort of emotion. Instead of apologising, saying he didn't mean it (and Sora _knew_ he didn't mean it really – he was just _angry_ ), Roxas sneered. "Eavesdrop, much?"

"I was coming to say sorry," Lea replied. "Because I knew you were upset."

"Since when do you care?" The blond snarled. "You're _heartless_ – a **nobody**. You've never felt a thing in your life!"

The only change in Lea's expression was a very slight arching of his eyebrows. "At least Isa doesn't expect anything different from me."

"Fuck you!" Roxas exploded.

"You already did that." Lea turned away. "Maybe if you ask her nicely, Naminé will get rid of those times too." He walked away, without one of his usual lazy waves.

Sora reached out to touch his other's arm. "Ven…"

Roxas yanked his arm away. "No, Sora. I don't want to talk about it."

His other stormed off in the opposite direction. Sora gave a heavy sigh and followed after him. It felt like everything was going wrong – like things were supposed to be going a different way. He shoved his hands in his pockets and tilted his head up, looking at the heart-shaped moon.

…

Somewhere across the sea, a pair of blue-green eyes were looking up at the same moon.

As the weather warmed, the school year began to wind down. There were n exams, no big assignments – just lessons that became more about loafing around instead of actually learning anything.

With the latest Roxas/Lea feud, he didn't get to see much of the redhead. Sometimes Lea snuck into his study hall when maths with Roxas became too much. They got to talk some – Sora didn't have to lose his friend, even though Roxas was fighting with his… _something_.

Lea was graduating – he was worrying a little about food and rent. His free apartment was only until he graduated from high school – and his free weekday meals would also be over. But things were going well with Isa – who was more than _just_ Lea's roommate, but _was_ paying rent.

Lea had a soft, affectionate smile whenever he spoke of Isa. The two of them tiptoed around the subject of Roxas – but he couldn't help but feel betrayed on behalf of his other.

"You both overreacted, you know," Sora said grumpily, leading Lea out of the library towards the gym's locker rooms.

"Whether _he_ did or not, I'm not going to get into," the redhead replied coolly. "But the things he said, everything he called me – even if it was in the heat of the moment…" He pulled his hood up as they got closer to the crowding gym.

"If I had a heart, and I'd given it to him, he would've done a damn good job of breaking it."

" _If_ , huh?" Sora asked, giving him a look that made it clear he didn't believe him at all.

"And if there was anything, it's nothing that a bonfire, a fistfight and Isa couldn't do away with," he gave an indifferent shrug.

Sora sighed. He wished it had been that easy for Roxas. His other was still a brooding, silent mess. "Shouldn't you be slinking off to wherever you hide during gym hour?"

"Nah," he said, slipping inside the locker room with him. "The last week of school is always sword-fighting with Principal Xemnas. It's the only sport I actually like."

He slipped away to the locker room occupied by the seniors and Sora went to change into his own gym uniform. Roxas was already there, glaring mutinously at his gym shoes.

"Roxas?" He asked quietly. "What's up?"

His other pulled an angry face. "Xenmas," he snarled, "said he'd be looking out for me in gymtoday."

"Guess you can't skip today, then."

"Whatever," Roxas grumbled as he got to his feet. "At least I don't have to stare at Axel's dumb face under the bleachers."

Sora opened his mouth to warn his other, but Roxas had already stomped off towards the gym doors. He just sighed and shrugged. Roxas would find out soon enough.

He joined the rest of the class in the gym, picking up the foam-padded swords until he found one he liked the weight of. Some students were picking up padded shield things for other people to practice hits with.

The twins didn't bother with those. They moved to a clear space on the floor and started sparring. They did well – both evenly matched.

It was all going well, until Roxas jumped back into the person fighting behind him. It could have just ended in a laugh and exchanged apologies.

But it was Lea he'd run into.

"Watch where you're going, asshole!" Roxas snarled.

" **You** ran into _me_ , you little shit!" Lea growled back, wheeling on him.

The blond only sneered. "Maybe if you weren't always hanging around me, begging for my attention, I wouldn't run into a nobody freak like you!"

" _Fuck_ you!"

"You _wish_ I would!"

"Gentlemen." Lea instantly jerked his head around to look at Principal Xenmas. "We are in class. If you wish to work out your anger, then a duel is in order."

The arguing teens silently glared at each other a moment, until they both nodded in assent.

The court cleared, everyone moving to the bleachers to watch the fight. Sora sat on the edge of his seat, anxious as he watched the two of them take stance ten paces from each other.

Lea started off offensive. He hunkered down low and rushed towards Roxas in a burst of speed, veering aside at the last moment and striking the blond in the side. The move enraged Roxas, who threw himself into the fight with an angry shout.

The two of them danced about and clashed, too fast to keep track. Sora couldn't tell who was winning, but the fact that it wasn't obviously his brother surprised him. He cried out in surprise when he saw Roxas flying backwards from a hard strike, landing roughly beside the cluster of equipment. His breath caught until he saw his other get back on his feet, eyes blazing in determination. Clutched in his left hand was a second practice sword.

"Two?!" Lea growled.

The fight exploded again – but this time, Roxas had the clear upper hand. Lea looked unbalanced with only one weapon in his hand. The blond's attacks were relentless, and even when Lea's knees buckled, he didn't stop. He slammed both swords down over and over again against Lea's.

At last the redhead's weapon dropped, and Roxas finished off the duel with a hard swing that cracked against his jaw and sent the lanky redhead flying back against the floor again.

The room was in stunned silence, Roxas standing still and breathing hard.

"Lea!" Sora yelled, panicked. He raced over to the redhead's side. "Are you okay?"

He tried to help him sit up, but Lea smacked his hands away. "Don't touch me!"

"Lea…"

The redhead got shakily to his own feet. "You two stay the hell away from me." He stomped away from them. Away from Sora, away from Roxas, and then out of the gym altogether.

The twins didn't speak, even as class ended and they headed out to catch the bus. Sora noticed his other had come to a complete stop, and followed his eyesight to figure out why.

Lea's vibrant red hair was unmissable. He was rushing towards a blue-haired figure, all dressed in black. Isa.

The guy was leaning against the side of a sleek moon-white car, but stood as Lea got closer. The redhead wrapped his arms around the guy and pressed their lips together in a passionate kiss.

Sora heard his other give a seething hiss of anger. He wanted to tell Roxas that it didn't mean anything. But he saw the way Lea's muscle's relaxed, how the tension in his shoulders eased. Like just being with him made all the bad stuff go away. He couldn't lie to Roxas.

The two of them stood in silence and watched as Lea climbed into the car, and Isa drove him away from them.


	25. Riku

School finished on the last day of July. There was a huge bonfire on Neminem Beach, a combined celebration with the girls' school. Everyone was in a good mood, a few portable stereos tuned to the only radio station they had in the area, so the music could be heard almost all over the sandy strip of beach.

Roxas was settled comfortably between Pence and Olette, Hayner on her other side, the four of them roasting marshmallows. Sora was on Pence's other side, Kairi and Naminé beside him.

"I'm surprised Lea isn't here," Kairi said, her voice loud over the nearby stereo. "Bonfires – seems exactly his scene."

"It does," Sora agreed. "I don't think the crowd is, though. He's probably holed up somewhere wit his boyfriend?"

Naminé frowned, leaning closer to them. "His boyfriend?" Her eyes strayed to where Roxas was sitting, confused.

"His old friend, Isa," Sora explained.

She paled. "… Saix?"

"Yeah, that was it," he said. "You know him?"

"Something like that," she replied evasively. Before long, she stood. "Sora, will you take a walk with me?"

Confused, he stood and followed after her. They walked in silence until they reached the pebbled part of the beach where it was quieter. "Sora, about Saix…"

"Lea's boyfriend?" He asked. Why was she so interested in Isa? "What about him?"

"He's not meant to be here," she said quietly. "He wasn't part of this."

"Lea said he's just gotten out of juvie. That's why he hasn't been around," Sora repied, shaking his head.

"No, Sora, that's not…" She gave a heavy sigh. "He's not a good person. Whatever he really wants with Lea…" she trailed off. "I think he's going to hurt him."

He patted her arm reassuringly. "It's okay to be worried about him, Naminé," he said carefully. "Lea knows what he's doing."

She shook her head. "You don't _get_ it," she said sadly. "Just… mention it to Roxas, okay?"

"I don't think that' a good idea," he disagreed. "They had a big fight 'cause of Isa. Roxas won't care if Lea is involved."

She bit her lip. "That's even more suspicious, don't you get it?" She asked. "He shows up out of nowhere and puts a wedge between Lea and his friends. Please, Sora. I warned you that…"

"Okay," he interrupted. "I'll tell Roxas. I just don't think it'll help."

She gave a long, tired sigh. "I wish you understood." Shaking her head, she turned back around. "Let's go back to the party."

Sora followed, confused about her worry. He felt his toe knock against something, tripping him. "Huh?" He turned to look back and saw a glass bottle, now half-buried in the sand. He could just see his name on the tightly rolled paper inside the bottle. He recognised the handwriting.

He jolted with surprise, shoving it into his pocket and rushing back to his other's side. "I've got to talk to you about something," he said in a low voice. "Come for a walk?"

Roxas handed Hayner his marshmallow and followed Sora into the darkness of the beach. "If this is about Axel and Saix, you know I don't want to hear it."

"I know you don't," Sora replied. "Naminé wanted me to talk about it – Isa isn't supposed to be here, why is he driving Lea away, yadda, yadda, yadda. No, I found this." He pulled the bottle out. "It's from R.D."

Roxas was frowning, his expression serious. But he shook it off and focussed on the bottle. "Go on. Open it, see what it says."

Eager, he popped out the cork and tipped the bottle upside down, reaching in to get the paper out.

He unrolled the paper to see what was inside. It was a map. _The_ map. The one he'd put in R.D's pocket the last time they'd fought. It was marked again, this time a smaller island a while out from Peninsular Nemo. And it said _Come and find me._

He passed the map to Roxas. "He's here."

Roxas studied the map for a long moment. "We'll go tomorrow. Go and get him for you."

Roxas was surprisingly incompetent at sailing the boat, despite their memories of sailing together as kids. He got seasick and ended up needing to sit at the front of the boat, in the air and with a clear view of the horizon to keep him grounded.

They'd left at dawn, and the island came into view somewhere before noon. Sora jumped out of the boat as soon as they reached the sand.

"I'm here!" he called. "R.D!"

He left his other to pull up the boat, heading towards a small plume of smoke drifting through the sky. At its pit, he found a figure in a black hood sitting on the sand.

They turned, pulling the hood down. A curtain of silky silvery hair drifted in the breeze – momentarily obscuring refined features and crystalline blue-green eyes.

Memory and feeling exploded to life in his heart, washing over him like a tide.

"Riku!" he cried, rushing to him. He found himself enclosed in a desperate embrace. "I remember you now!"

"Thank fuck," Riku murmured, holding him tight. "I thought I'd be stuck on this island forever."

"It's okay. I'm here now. So's Roxas. We have a boat, we'll take you home. Sephiroth won't remember you, but I'm sure Lea will be happy to let you stay. You'll have to put up with Isa, but—"

"Isa?" Riku repeated, pulling away to frown at him. "You mean Saix?"

"Yeah," Sora said brightly. "Did you ever meet him?"

"No." He looked worried. "He's not good news. Didn't anyone say something about him? Naminé?"

"Uh…" Sora scratched the side of his face. "I guess she did. She said he was a bad person, that he didn't belong here. She's worried about Lea, I think.

"… Sora, we should go." Riku looked anxious. "I want to meet Saix – ask him some questions myself."

Roxas was lying in the boat, yawning – one hand draped over his eyes. He lifted his arm as he heard them approaching. "Oh, good. You found him. Can we go back now?"

"I missed you too, Roxas," Riku replied, rolling his eyes.

"Well, I don't remember you," he corrected, as they prepared to launch the boat, "but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't agree."

Riku only laughed.

The sun was setting by the time they got back to Peninsula Nemo. Twilight in the Peninsular was not nice like in the city. The town was shadowed, everything looked dingy and grey and gross. Not that it looked much better in any other light.

"Hey," Riku said, amused, "my car's here." He pointed to an old, beat-up sedan on the curb by the docks.

"Great. You wanna give us a ride home?" Roxas asked, tired and grumpy after a full day in the sun.

"After," Riku corrected. "I'm going to see Lea."

The blond grumbled. Sora chuckled at his other's sulky attitude. "e and Lea aren't getting along right now."

Riku snorted as they settled into the car. "So, what's new?" He teased.

"They _were_ getting along," Sora added, smiling at Riku. "They were practically _dating_ before their fall out."

"Shut up, Sora," Roxas grumbled from the back seat. He was still touchy about that. "Can we just hurry up and get this over with? You two can have your _private reunion_ and I can get some sleep."

Sora pulled a face at his other in the rear-view mirror. He knew Roxas didn't want to talk about a 'private reunion' any more than Sora wanted to talk about it in the vicinity of his brother. But if Roxas wanted to shut him up, that was fine.

It wasn't long to get to Lea's place. They all clambered out and let themselves through the front door of the apartment building.

Sora knocked eagerly on the door. "Lea! Guess who we found!"

He waited a few moments, grinning back at Riku and his other. Then a whole minute had passed, and there was nothing. His brows knit together in a frown, and then he knocked again. "Lea?" He called. "It's Sora, come open the door!"

Another minute passed. Still nothing.

"Maybe he's at his cart?" Sora suggested.

"His lights are on," Roxas replied. He nudged his brother aside and started pounding his fists on the door. "Axel! Saix!" He yelled through the door. "Open up!"

Riku touched Sora's arm. "I'll check if his neighbours have a key."

He nodded and followed the pale-haired guy over to the door on the other side of the corridor.

In a moment, the door was opened by a beautiful man with petal-pink hair. "Good evening, Sora," he greeted. "Ah, Mr Dawn. It's been quite some time."

"Marluxia," Riku greeted, giving a polite but cold nod. "Axel doesn't seem to be answering his door. Do you happen to have a spare key?"

"No," the neighbour replied. "Though I'm not surprised he doesn't feel like company. Not after the fight he had with that arrogant tyrant earlier today."

 _Axel's as fragile as he is strong_ , Riku had said once.

His eyes widened, and Sora watched as he rushed back to Lea's door. "Move," he commanded Roxas, who quickly stepped aside.

Sora had a brief image that flashed across his mind – of Riku lifting a key shaped like a dragon's wing and a flash of light unlocking the door.

The reality was different. Riku lifted one booted foot and slammed it against the door. On the second kick, the wood splintered and the door crashed open. Roxas rushed ahead of them, and Sora brought up the rear.

Lea was lying in the middle of the floor. His face was twisting in pain, one hand fisted in the fabric of his shirt above his heart. He looked worryingly pale, even his hair seemed to be a paler shade.

Roxas gave a shaky gasp as he took up Lea's other hand. "He's cold," he whispered, anxious.

"Shit." Riku handed Sora his keys. "No time to wait for an ambulance. Sora, I need you to go start the car and open the doors." The brunet nodded, rushing out. "Roxas, help me carry him to the car…"


	26. Interlude: Ventus

Purest Heart Hospital was warm and friendly, not like he had expected. But that was a relief. If Roxas had to have spent sixteen hours in a sterile white clinic, he would've gone stir crazy.

Axel was stable. Dr Sid had claimed if they'd been ten minutes longer, Axel would have lost his heart completely. But for now, the redhead was lying in the hospital bed, tucked unmoving under pale green sheets.

Above the bed was a monitor, keeping track of the shattered remains of Axel's heart. He tried to tell himself that seeing them drift further and further apart was just a trick of his eyes.

The door opened and Dr Wise entered the room. He was the hospital's leading expert in hearts. "Roxas," he greeted, very slightly rolling the 'R' in his name. "Are you still here?"

"He shouldn't be alone," Roxas replied, giving the hand in his a soft squeeze.

"In his condition, it doesn't much matter. He won't get worse, but without special circumstances, recovery will be slow." He checked the monitor. "You can go, get some proper rest – shower and sleep. He'll still be here tomorrow."

"It's okay," he said. "I can stay. I don't want him to be alone."

"With a heart like this, I doubt he can feel anything." Dr Wise gave him a pitying look. "I'll see you later."

Roxas turned his attention back to Axel. He looked strange, with his make-up washed off. Young and vulnerable – his eyes not even moving under veiny eyelids. "Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere – I'm not going to leave you alone. Not again."

He sat back in the uncomfortable plastic chair.

Axel's broken heart. They were all saying it was the fight with Saix that had caused it. But he couldn't help wondering if it was _his_ fault too. They'd fought, and he'd said horrible things. Horrible things he should've taken back, but he ever had. Axel could have died thinking that's how Roxas thought of him.

He was never sure exactly what he and Axel were. But they were bound up in red strings of fate – every emotion was intense, when it was positive or negative. They fought and fucked with the same burning passion.

That first night they'd met, Roxas hadn't questioned how quickly, how easily he'd gotten along with the redhead. He'd panicked the next day, and made sure Axel knew they weren't friends, probably never would be. That had lasted less than a whole school day.

 _They'd been making out, hands clenching, pulling, trying to drag each other impossibly closer to one another. Roxas bit Axel's lip and pulled back. "This doesn't mean anything."_

 _The redhead laughed, touching his lip. "I got the hint, yeah." He lay back on the falling mats on one elbow, giving him a lazy smirk. "Does that mean you want to stop?"_

 _Roxas pushed him down properly. "Not if we're on the same page. If you're happy to settle for strings-free, then let's go."_

 _Axel reached up and rubbed a thumb over his cheekbone. "Roxas. My heart is reaching out for yours. I'll take anything you want to give me – and be happy with it."_

 _Roxas kissed the thumb. "Then shut up. I have better occupations for your mouth."_

Roxas jolted awake from his doze, his remembrance. He remembered that, remembered the panic after they'd parted. Because he felt it too. His heart, stunted and inconsistent as it was, lit up whenever the redhead was around. It pulled in his direction no matter how far apart they were.

Even now, every thump drew it closer and closer to Axel, lying unmoving on the bed.

The door opened, and he glanced over to see Sora and Riku come in. His memories of the times before had been slowly creeping back and back the more time he spent around the silver-haired teen. And every moment of Axel burned bright and technicolour.

"Roxas?" Sora asked, coming to his side. "Did you get any sleep?"

"A little bit," he replied, purposely vague.

Sora only sighed. His poor other – he was always so _worried_ about him. "Have you eaten? Had any water?"

He shifted away from their gazes. "The nurses brought some water last night."

His other opened his mouth, but let it close when Riku touched his arm. "Fine. We're going to get some breakfast and coffee. You can stay here with Lea."

Roxas waved him off. Coffee would be good – though he knew it would taste like swill compared to Axel's.

His other left, most-likely-boyfriend in tow, leaving Roxas to the solace of Axel's even breathing and the amplified pulse on the heart monitor. The nurse came in soon after, quietly checking on all the vitals.

"How is he, Aerith?" He asked carefully.

"He's the same," she replied in her soft, soothing voice. "His breathing is good, his pulse is steady – his temperature is a little lower than normal, but that's not unexpected with the air control around here."

It wasn't right. Axel was always running warm. But he didn't know how to get them to take him seriously on that fact.

"Why isn't he getting better?" He asked anxiously.

"It's going to be a slow process," she told him kindly. "It can take years for a heart to repair itself. Damage like this, without special circumstances, my guess is at least a year."

"Dr Wise said that too. What special circumstances? There has to be something more."

She looked at him. "Hearts are stronger when they touch others. Friends, family, lovers. Every time we meet, we give a little of our heart over, and take some in return. And that's how a heart grows."

"So, what? Surround him with his friends?"

"Hearts are difficult to rationalise," she replied. "But it knows itself, and it understands others." She gave him a reassuring look. "Listen to your heart, Roxas. It always knows." She patted his arm and headed back out, closing the door after herself.

He turned his attention back to the heart monitor. His heart was supposed to know what to do? It never knew what it wanted. All it did was cower, and tug in his chest whenever Axel was close.

"… Oh."

He raised a hand, pressing it against the pulsing organ. Was this it? His heart trying to tell him it wanted to be with Axel's?

He leaned over the bed. He wished Axel was awake for this. But what if he couldn't without it?

He leaned forward and tugged a bit of crimson hair behind his ear. "Here goes nothing." He slid his eyes closed, and pressed their lips together. His heart made the strangest tug, and then he felt something rushing out. Away. Into Axel.

He was warm, feeling calm and secure for the longest moment until he had to pull away. He raised his eyes to the heart monitor.

The spaces between the shards of his heart were filling with pale blue light. He gasped – it had worked?

"Roxas?"

"Shhhh," he soothed. "I'm concentrating. Something amazing is happening." He didn't want to be distracted, watching Axel's heart fill with his until it was whole again.

A low huff of a laugh followed that, hot breath gusting across his neck. "Rock- _sass_!"

"I said, shush—" he cut himself off and gasped, looking down at him. "Axel! You're awake!"

"I am." He gently nudged Roxas off his chest. "The Purest Heart? Why am I here? What happened?"

He sighed and closed his hand around Axel's. "Uh. It's a bit of a long story…"


	27. The Princesses of Purest Heart

"He's going to be fine, Sora."

"Huh?" He lifted his head, glancing at Riku. "Lea? I know he is. He's getting the best care here."

"Yeah," Riku said, taking his hand. "But this time I was talking about Roxas. He'll be fine. He's still in shock, but he'll calm down soon. We'll all be okay."

"I just hope we can get him to eat something," Sora admitted. "He's going to end up in a bed beside him if he's not careful."

Riku squeezed his hand. "We'll bring him some food back. Hopefully it's about staying by his side, not torturing himself."

He nodded and rested his head against Riku's shoulder. He was exhausted – everything was going on all at once, and happening too fast. But at least he had Riku back – and his _real_ memories, not the fake ones Naminé had tangled up his heart in. He could remember clearly what his feeling were for Riku… but also what _truly_ belonged to Kairi.

That was going to be a sticky conversation, but he could wait until things were calm again.

"Excuse me," Riku said, interrupting a nurse. "Can you tell us how to get to the cafeteria?"

Almost robotically, the nurse pointed. "Through the ward of the seven princesses, then down the stairs."

They thanked him and headed through the set of doors. There were seven beds, six of them occupied. He browsed the names on the whiteboards above the beds:

 _B. Rose_

 _C. Ella_

 _S. White_

 _B. Beast_

 _A. Carroll_

 _J. Sultan_

"Why do you think they call it the ward of the seven princesses?" Sora asked curiously, as they passed through the ward to the corridor on the other side.

"No idea," Riku said. "I'm not a local either. Maybe we can ask your friends."

"Or we can ask Lea when he wakes up," he suggested, smiling. "He's bound to know."

The other gave him a pitying look. "You might be waiting a while to ask. You know that, right?"

He grinned and nudged him with his elbow. "Stay positive, Riku! I choose to believe he's going to make a miraculous recovery any day now."

The pouty lips quirked up. "Before his birthday?"

Sora blinked. "When's his birthday?" He asked, surprised.

"The eighth of august," Riku replied. "Exactly a week – seven days, assuming time flows the way its supposed to."

"Then definitely before then," Sora nodded decisively. "Then we have to work hard. If we're going to cure Lea's heart with the power of our friendship, then we need to start immediately."

Riku chuckled and kissed his forehead. "Breakfast and coffee first. Let's get your brother fed, and the three of us will start."

When they got back to the room, they froze at the door.

Lea was sitting up, nodding to Dr Wise and answering questions. "No, I feel fine." He turned to give Roxas a faint smile. "I'm feeling fine."

"Lea!" Riku cried out, surprised. "You're awake!"

Dr Wise excused himself, and the two of them hurried to the bed. "Sora… And Riku, I guess?"

"Yeah." Riku settled on the bed by Lea's feet. "That's me."

"Don't worry," Roxas reassured him. "The memories will come back in bits."

Sora stared at their intertwined hands, then looked up at his other with shock. He twitched his eyebrows up, mouth falling into a shocked ' _oh_ '.

Roxas's face burned pink with a blush, and shot his other a ' _shut up'_ look.

He squinted at his other, at Lea, back to his brother and pursed his lips. What had happened while he was gone?

His other looked away, cheeks still pink as he raised his other hand. One finger pressed against his lips at the first knuckle.

Sora let out a startled, happy laugh. With a grin, he reached over to ruffle his younger twin's hair. He was so happy for him!

"… Did _you_ get any of that?" Riku asked, sharing a look with Lea.

"Nope. Not a thing."

"Huh?" Sora asked.

"You two were doing that twin telepathy thing again," Riku answered.

"Sorry." He settled in next to his probably-boyfriend. "So. What's the news? When can we take you home?"

"We?" Lea echoed, amused. He chuckled and shook his head. "Tuesday morning. They just want to run a few more tests, blah-blah-blah." He waved a hand around lazily. "Is that coffee I smell?"

They showed up with fresh clothes for Lea on Tuesday morning, setting in to wait for the all-clear.

"Your last day at the Purest Heart. You going to miss anything?" Sora asked, watching Roxas and Riku play cards while Lea changed behind the curtain.

"No," the redhead replied with a groan. "I can't wait to get out of this place. If I have to spend another day here, I'd lose my mind."

"That reminds me," Sora said, glancing over as Lea came out again. "What's with the ward of the seven princesses?"

The redhead raised his eyebrows as he came over to tie up his shoes. "You've never heard of the Seven Princesses of Purest Heart?" He asked, surprised. "I thought everybody knew about them."

"Well, tell it to us newbies," the blond prompted.

"Well." Lea started to lace his boots together. "Legend has it, the seven princesses lost their purest of pure hearts, and were brought here for safekeeping."

"But there's only six of them," Sora pointed out. "Why is it the _seven_ princesses?"

Lea paused mid-way through tying a loop. "Six?" He repeated. "You sure?"

"Yeah," Riku pitched in, "we walk through the ward to get to the cafeteria. Seven beds, six girls."

"… Huh." He finished tying his shoe and lowered his foot onto the floor. "But it's seven. I know it's seven. That's the story."

"Maybe one got better?" Sora guessed.

"Their hearts were taken. _Gone_. You can heal a broken heart, but they don't just regrow while you're comatose." He frowned, tapping his lips. "Seven… Why seven?" I need my notebooks."

Riku looked at him, grinning. "Team Investigation, at it again?"

"That's a stupid team name," Lea replied. "But yes. Something odd is up about this. We can get through more books quicker that way."

As soon as they got back to Lea's place, the redhead put a pot of coffee on and divvied out five years of books. "Check the backs first. They're like… glossaries, or something. I don't know, I put some summary stuff at the ends."

"If it's not in the back?" Roxas asked.

"Then you begin the mind-numbing journey through teenage Axel Lea's life." He sat down and opened the latest journal. "And I get all the sex stuff. Lucky me," he smirked.

"Swap you?" Roxas teased.

"You remember all the good stuff," Lea replied, waving him off. "Anything about princesses or Purest of Hearts, or stolen hearts."

Sora gave him a thumbs up and started hi reading.

It was well into the night by the time Riku sat up, dislodging a half-asleep Sora from his lap. "I think I've found something. From your half-feverish notes when you were in for pneumonia."

Lea sat up, setting down his coffee mug. "Right. I remember thinking my hands were on fire."

"You found it weird about the six girls in the seven princesses ward too," he continued. "You did free-writing about it, which apparently made total sense to your sick brain. Your scribbles are missing, but you write down some names you kept repeating. Aurora, Cinderella, Snow White, Belle, Alice, Jasmine, and—" He cut himself off, eyes widening.

"Riku?" Sora asked nervously. "What is it?"

Riku glanced around at them all, and licked is lips. "It's Kairi, Sora. The seventh name is Kairi."

He frowned in confusion. Why would Kairi be on the list? But even as he thought about it, the more he felt it was true. Kairi was the last princess. Of course she was.

"We need to find out what the truth is about the Seven Princesses of Heart," Sora declared. "Now that we know Kairi is involved, we have to protect her."

He felt a panicky feeling in his chest, and shifted impatiently in his seat. The urge to go to her and make sure she was safe.

"So how does this fit in with everything else?" Roxas asked. "Six comatose princesses without hearts, Kairi next on the list, shadowy monsters on the attack, shifting memories, robotic townies?"

"Not to mention Saix," Riku pointed out.

Sora tensed, watched Roxas stiffen and shoot a look at Lea. The redhead hummed and stood up. He shoved the TV in front of the fireplace and grabbed an old charcoal from the fireplace.

He wrote ' _The Seven Princesses of Purest Heart_ ', the six names of the others in smaller bubbles around it. Kairi's name went off to the centre in a big bubble.

Soon he had a mind-map on the wall, and Kairi was in the middle of it all.

Lea stood back and looked at it all. "We're missing something. One big thing to make it all make sense. But I think the point is clear. Whatever is happening, it's about her."

Sora felt eyes on him, and turned to meet the eyes that exactly matched his own.

"… And Sora," Roxas finished.

"Hm?"

"It's about Kairi and Sora," he continued. "The two of them. Everything Naminé did was to get them together. The monsters appeared to keep them apart."

"You can't honestly think this _whole thing_ is a ploy to get me and Kairi together!" Sora protested.

But only silence followed his words. Riku and Lea stared at each other, having some kind of silent conversation.

"We need to talk to Naminé," Lea decided at last.

Riku just gave a weary sigh and a nod.


	28. Paopu Fruit

"Pass the coffee."

"Roxas this was meant to last the whole weekend."

"Axel, I _know_ you have coffee beans in your bag. Don't even try."

Sora rolled his eyes at the redhead and his other. They argued as much as ever, but it was almost flirtatious now. It made him all too aware of the distance that had appeared between Riku and himself since Lea had gotten out of the hospital.

With a sigh, he looked past the arguing pair to Riku who was sorting out their provisions for the trip. He walked over, but even though the tensing shoulders made it clear he'd heard his approach, Riku didn't acknowledge him.

"Do you need a hand?" Sora offered.

"I've pretty much got this. Why don't you collect some firewood for the night?"

He sighed. Firewood duties. "Yeah, okay. I'll be back soon."

He wandered off to the rest of the island. It was mostly palms, but he carried some fronds back to their campsite . And surprise, surprise, there was a pile of chopped wood neatly stacked beside the fire-pit Lea was building in the middle of their campsite. He tossed the fronds down. "Brought you some kindling."

"Thanks, Sora."

They caught fish and baked them in the coals of the fire-pit. They talked and laughed well into the night – and if Lea and Roxas noticed that Sora and Riku didn't actually talk to one another, they didn't say anything about it.

Lea stood up and stretched. "Well. I'm going to bed. Up at dawn for the paopu picking, Riku?"

He nodded. "If we're only staying one day, I'm using as much daylight as I can." He tossed his fish-bones into on the fire. "You all can sleep in as long as you like."

Lea waved him off dismissively. "Shut up, Riku. We're here to help you, not slack off."

He snorted. "Yeah. Sure." I'll see how you really feel when it's time to wake up."

The other three didn't stay awake for much longer than Lea. Riku headed off to one tent with Lea, and the twins went into the other.

Sora had just zipped up his sleeping bag when Roxas turned to him. "So. What's going on between you and Riku?"

He sighed. "I wish I knew. He's being weird with me."

"Is this about Kairi?" Roxas asked.

"It has to be, doesn't it?" He asked, disappointed. "He's got some idea in his head. But he _won't talk to me_."

"You have to keep trying, Sora," his other said reassuringly. "He loves you."

"I know that," Sora said tiredly. "And he knows I know that. I just wish he would talk to me about what's bothering him."

"Well, he can't escape from you here," Roxas pointed out. "You could circuit the entire island in five minutes."

"… True." He gave a heavy sigh. "I just wish I had something like you and Lea have."

His other snorted at him. "Sora, you'd _hate_ what Axel and I have. No commitment, no definition - we just are what we are. Half the time we don't even like each other."

Sora pulled a face. "That can't be true. You two are made for each other."

Roxas gave a shrug, his face completely indifferent. "Feels like it," he agreed. "Every day. How did he say it…? Like there's a thread tying our hearts together, and it pulls and pulls." He caught himself being melancholy and shook it off. "Anyway - the point is. You know you're not like that. You're a sap, you want the romance crap. Sharing paopu fruit under the stars, making love by candlelight, the-"

"I get it!" Sora shoved at his face. "Shut up, already."

"You just need to talk to him - corner him so he can't get away, and have that conversation he's been avoiding since Axel got out of hospital."

He sighed. "You're right, Ven." He rubbed his head. "I'll talk to him in the morning."

The tent unzipped and Axel stuck his head in. "No time like the present. You were supposed to be done convincing him by now."

Sora flushed in embarrassment. "Oh my god, you were trying to get rid of me so you could sleep with Lea!"

Roxas chuckled. "Well yes," he agreed. "But I still think you need to talk to him. Now, scram. We're going to have sex. You can go wait by the fire until we're done or go sleep in the other tent with Riku."

"Ew ew ew," he clambered up, grabbing his pillow. "Oh my god I'm burning this sleeping bag. Yuuuuck." He hurried out of the tent as Lea slipped in, laughing. But he hesitated before crossing the fire pit over to the second tent. It was a safe distance in terms of noise, but Riku was in there.

He shivered in the cold and stepped towards the tent. Riku looked up when he slipped in, glasses perched on his noise, a book in his hands. He closed it when Sora zipped up the tent flap. "Sexiled?"

"I don't wanna talk about it," he mumbled, pulling a face.

Riku chuckled, shifting over to give Sora room to settle down. "You're not exactly a blushing virgin, Sora."

"It's not a sex thing," Sora said, rolling his eyes as he zipped himself up into Axel's sleeping bag. "It's a 'my other' thing."

"Mm." He slid his glasses off and closed them up in a case. "Goodnight, Sora." He reached up to lift the cover of the lantern and turn out the flame.

"Wait," Sora said, reaching up to hold his wrist still. "Leave it on a minute, Riku."

He froze, his soft blue-green eyes lingering on Sora's tanned skin on his own pale wrist. A moment, and he gave a defeated sigh. He shifted, so their hands were together and their fingers interlocked. "Sora… please." His voice sounded so defeated.

"You're pulling away from me," the brunet murmured, "and I don't know why."

Riku's eyes slipped closed, but he shifted closer to press their foreheads together. "I thought if I didn't get used to being with you again, it wouldn't hurt me so much when it's over."

"Over?" Sora echoed, taking his other hand to hold just as fast. "What do you mean over?"

"We figured it out together," he murmured. "Everything that's happening is because of you and Kairi. Naminé didn't tell us much - it seemed like she was in pain just to tell us what little she could. Whatever is happening around us, in this place, there's one way for it to end. One something between you and her - and everything we've been to each other, everything we feel for each other, it's been in the way. That's why she got rid of me."

Sora's hand squeezed tightly around his. "She said something like that to me once… well before I ever knew anything was strange." He closed his eyes, savouring Riku's warmth. "It's not fair. I don't want to have to choose her over you."

A hand carded through his hair. "It's okay. Me, or the fate of the world? You wouldn't be you if you didn't do the good thing."

"It's hardly the fate of the world," he mumbled. "But it's not fair, all the same."

Sora shifted close, pressing their lips together.

Riku pulled away, just slightly. "When we get back, you know we can't put it off for longer. Things are happening, going wrong. After tomorrow, it's not…"

Sora kissed him again, cutting off the words. The truth. "Then don't cut me off so soon, Riku. If we only have this weekend, then I want it. Please."

One hand slipped from him, and he heard the low zip of a sleeping bag. "Okay. Okay…"

"That's it," Riku said, dropping a final net bag beside the fire. "The last ripe paopu on the island. Quite the haul."

Lea was spinning an over-ripe paopu fruit in his fingers. "I still can't believe you make this much money from a bunch of fruit."

"It's popular with the wedding crowd," Riku replied. "If that hadn't gone over-ripe, one that size would've sold in a shop for two thousand munny."

"Two thousand?" Roxas echoed in disbelief. He cast his eyes over the couple crates they had gathered up.

"Well, it does have to last the whole year," he replied, rolling his eyes. "Before you go sweet on me for the contents of my wallet."

Roxas snorted. "It'll take more than money to make me sweet on you, Dawn."

Riku smirked as he settled next to Sora by the fire. "I'm sure I can learn how to make a good coffee too."

"Oi," Lea complained, glaring at him and putting a possessive arm around Roxas's hip. "I'm good for more than that." Roxas gave a little sly smile and stayed silent. "Right, Rox?" Another silence. "Roxas!"

The twins just laughed. Lea huffed and got to his feet, tossing the fruit at Sora, who fumbled to catch it. "This is for you and Riku. Happy my birthday."

"Aren't we supposed to get you gifts?" Sora asked, holding it in his hands. "Don't you want to share it with Roxas?"

"Blondie and I are tied up enough together as it is, we don't need paopu shit too - or he'll never be rid of me." He waved a hand at them dismissively and headed to the tent. The one originally designed for the twins, but that he and Roxas had shared the night before - and apparently intended to again.

Roxas downed the rest of his coffee and stood up. He gave the two of them an amused grin - "don't stay up too late, then. High tide is just after dawn."

Sora hid his face in embarrassment. Their tent zipped up after Roxas and Sora felt the paopu being taken softly from his hands. "We'll just toss that in the ocean, shall we?" Riku murmured.

Sora uncovered one eye to look at him. "You don't want to share it?" He asked, awkward about how disappointed he sounded.

"Tie our destinies together when we're about to be pulled apart? That seems a bit of cruel joke."

"Does it?" Sora asked, hurt. He shifted closer to him. "I thought… It means we'd still be bound to each other. Even though we can't be together any more."

Riku's fingers stroked over the edge of the star-shaped fruit. "I've never tasted it before, you know? All this time picking and selling it, I have no idea what it's like."

Sora plucked it from his hands. He grasped the leafy top of the fruit and snapped it back, peeling the yellow skin away from the fleshy white insides. "Let's find out together, shall we?"


	29. Final Interlude: Lea & Ven

"So, wait," Lea said, a laugh bubbling in his throat. "Your cousin is Cloud, his name is Sora, and your parents named you _Ventus_?" He grinned at Roxas. "What's the family obsession with the sky?"

The little blond punched his arm, but there was warmth in his eyes. "Your parents called you _Axel Lea_." He'd said that a few times before, and Lea had never corrected him. Xemnas had hardly been his parent, and the whole X-anagrams thing had started when they'd formed the gang. But it had stuck on enough it had become his real name.

The boat juddered as it gently bumped against the dock, signalling their arrival. They climbed out and unpacked everything, filling the trunk of Riku's car.

"So, back to mine?" He asked, his fingers toying with the frayed edge of the black hoodie Roxas had blatantly stolen from him.

It was Sunday night, and they were all aware this was the last weekend they'd have together like this. Sora had promised to sort things out with Naminé and Kairi on Monday, but it wasn't Monday yet.

Whether they were going to agree or not, Lea never got to find out. The ground rumbled, and the air seemed to throb – an unnatural turbulence. The weapons appearing in their hands was all the warning they got before a huge, hulking black creature climbed out from the darkness of the nearest alley. Before it could spot them, a few weird, silvery-white creatures appeared and started attacking the dark mass.

"Uh…?" Lea started. "What the hell is going on?" There was something familiar about the new creatures – vaguely human but too long, thin, and boneless to be real.

Ahead of him, Riku and Sora met eyes. "Kairi," they said in unison. And then they jumped towards the car doors. He met Roxas's eyes, and the blond just gave a silent nod before the two of them clambered into the back seat.

Riku drove, while the three of them hung half-out the windows, fighting off shadows or not-humans that tried to attack the car. People were screaming and disappearing as they drove through the streets, dragged away by either set of monsters, or just pixelating out. Buildings crumbled, melted, exploded into ash and smoke around them.

When they crossed the bridge, Neminem City was no better. Half the cliffside was blackened ruins, the other half a hellish warzone where monsters battled against each other, and against the world around them.

"What the fuck is happening?" Roxas asked, sliding inside the car window and winding it up quickly.

None of them answered. None of them _had_ an answer for him. All of this felt both horridly familiar, and terrifyingly foreign. He had no memory of anything like this, but it almost felt like this was every-day.

They all but crashed the car into the mansion where Kairi and Naminé lived, taking down the gate. "Alright," Riku announced, summoning his weapon with a grasp of his hand. "We'll get Kairi, you clear us a path."

Riku had only meant Axel, but Roxas stepped up beside him. "Clear a path to where?"

"The darkness is spreading from the beach," Riku answered, hardly skipping a beat. "Head up."

"The clocktower at the station," Lea offered. "Other than Castle Oblivion, it's the highest vantage point in the city."

They nodded. None of them ever wanted to go to Castle Oblivion, even now. Not if they could help it. A brief moment – Riku met Lea's eyes. A silent moment passed between them. Everything they never needed to say: goodbye, good luck, protect the twins at all costs. A slight nod, Riku echoed it, and then they all turned to leave.

The fight up to the clock tower was brutal. He felt _exhausted_ , his dual weapons heavy in his hands. He was slumped over himself, and if Roxas didn't keep yelling for him, he felt like he could've just melted back into the shadows and disappeared. But Roxas, Ventus, Ven, whoever he was, was important to him. So he kept going for him.

They pulled each other up in turn as they stumbled up the winding stairs with one another, bursting out into the open air of the top of the tower. They sat on the edge, catching their breath with deep, gasping inhales.

Lea could only watch in horror as the only home he'd ever known, the city and the town across the bay, melted into a shapeless black nightmare. He watched the monsters and the darkness crawl towards the train station, yanking Roxas back as the whole building shuddered with sudden instability as its foundation dissolved.

"Axel!" Roxas cried out. There was genuine terror in his voice, his weapon disappearing as he clung to the redhead's arms.

Back towards the mansion, there was an explosion of light. Shockwaves shuddered the melting tower, and the light began to spread, wiping out everything in its wake.

Roxas cried his name again, and he pulled his eyes away. Gently, he cupped the soft, round face of his lover. "It's okay, Roxas," he murmured. "Sora did it."

"Everything is _disappearing_ ," the blond shouted, panicked.

Lea silenced him with a kiss. Roxas melted into his arms, shaking with fear as they watched the light spread closer and closer. "Guess this world wasn't real after all."

Roxas's hand seized his wrist, squeezing vice-tight. "But it's not over between us, right? We'll meet again in the next life."

Something bitter bubbled in Lea's chest. Something he didn't dare to try and figure out. "Roxas, I would spend the rest of my life looking for you."

Roxas clung to him tightly, just as the clocktower gave a sick twist and toppled – tipping them over towards the light.


	30. Listen to Your Heart

Sora watched as his other and Axel disappeared down the street, fighting down these monsters as they went. They'd join them at the clock tower soon, once they had Kairi safe. Somehow they'd figure out what was happening here, and fix it all. He glanced aside at Riku, who looked serious, but wasn't looking in his direction.

So this was it for them then? They'd had those few hours together on the island, but that was all they would have? Now it needed to be him and Kairi. For whatever reason. Something to do with these monsters, with their messed up memories, with the Seven Princesses of Purest Heart.

"Riku?" He ventured carefully.

Riku looked back at him, and gave him a slight smile. But his eyes were sad. He knew this was the end too. "Come on. Kairi's probably at the mansion with Namine."

They didn't speak as they fought their way to the mansion - both of them moving in synchronized unison, their keyblades slashing at both kinds of monsters. The pale and the dark. It was almost effortless to fight with Riku at his side. Like it was something they'd been doing their whole life.

But the silence felt strange. It almost felt like they should be bantering - taunting each other to do better, calling at one another to make sure they were both okay, congratulating each other for good hits, shouting a warning, asking for assistance. It had never been so awkward to be silent around Riku before.

They reached the mansion before long, and there were large dark monsters guarding the gates - being attacked by the pale ones, but without making too much difference. Namine peaked out at them from an upstairs window, and the creatures seemed to slow until they came to a stop. Almost like they'd been paused.

Riku and Sora exchanged a quick look, before moving past them. There was a large padlock chaining the gates closed, but they moved in unison to unlock it. Keyblades raised, a ray of light spread from the tips of their weapons, and dissolved the lock entirely. The gates creaked as they opened and closed again behind them.

"Through the front door?" Sora offered.

Riku hummed. He looked through the front doors. "I mean, it's probably a trap," he ventured. But then he looked back at Sora and gave him a smile. "But since when has that ever stopped us?"

It was a weird thing to say, Sora thought. They'd never walked into a trap before, not as far as Sora could actually _remember_. But at the same time, the idea felt right. The two of them could face anything together, walking into a trap was nothing when they were by each other's side.

"Let's go then," Sora said, balancing his keyblade on one shoulder as he gave his boyfriend a grin.

Riku smiled back at him, soft and gentle, and then they hurried towards the door. It opened automatically for them, and inside was unfamiliar. The whole foyer was crowded with thorny vines, clinging to every surface and only leaving the space in the centre of the room. It was lit by flickering flames in a sickly sort of green-yellow colour.

Standing in the middle of the floor was a tall woman, dressed completely in black. Her skin was ghostly pale, and looked green in the light. Her expression was cold, turning up in a cruel smirk as she spotted them. Her hair was hidden behind some sort of weird headdress that curled up into two horns atop her head. A staff was held in her hand, with a glowing yellow orb on the top.

"Sora, Riku," she greeted. Her voice was grand, and condescending. "You've finally joined us. But I'm afraid you're too late!"

She yanked the train of her dress aside, revealing a pale figure slumped on the floor. "Kairi!" he yelled, rushing towards her. The woman made a shoving motion with her staff, and Sora slammed into an invisible force and was shoved backwards. Dazed, he heard Riku shout his name.

When he got back to his feet, Riku was in a fighting stance, Keyblade held over his head with the other hand out before him. "You fool," she said, "you think you can face me?"

"Scared?" Riku taunted, calm and resolute.

Sora saw what he was doing, and - heart in his chest - let it happen. Riku drew the woman into a fight, slowly moving her away from Kairi's prone form. When they were far enough away, with her back turned to them, he jumped up and rushed to Kairi's side. He carefully lifted her head, cradling her against his chest. "Kairi," he whispered.

Her eyes opened, but they looked hollow and lifeless. They didn't even seem to see him, though they were pointed in his direction. He almost jumped when Namine appeared beside him. "Namine," he said, "help me. We have to get her out of here. Roxas and Axel are at the-"

"It's too late for that," Namine said in a quiet voice. "Sora, I need you to trust in me - and trust in your heart. You were always the one who was meant to save us."

He knew that. He knew it was up to him, it's why Namine had messed around with his memories so much. But... "I don't know what to do."

She gave a small smile. "Yes you do," she murmured. "Close your eyes and listen to your heart. Don't let your memories or your thought get in the way. Just listen, and do what it wants."

"And that will save Kairi?" He asked hopefully.

"That will fix everything," she promised.

He let his eyes slip closed, until there was only darkness. The sounds of Riku's fight with the woman slowly faded out as he breathed deeply, trying to concentrate. What was he supposed to do? He knew it was up to him to fix this, and deep down he already knew the answer. And it had something to do with him and Kairi.

He thought back, to when Riku was gone, and they'd been together. It had felt right, even if some part of him had always been looking for something missing. Spending time with her, falling in love with her, that had felt as natural as breathing. But they'd never gone too far, never even kissed.

His eyes opened. They'd never kissed. Because those dark monsters appeared to stop it every time. Was that it? Was that as simple as it had ever had to be?

He looked down at Kairi, eyes tracing over her face. It was relaxed, as if she was just asleep. Like those princesses in fairy tales that had been cursed into a sleep-like-death awaiting true love's kiss. Was that it? Was what they felt for each other true love? It was hard to believe - they barely knew each other. But his feeling had always felt deeper for her than just how short a time they'd known each other. He thought Namine had taken his feeling from Riku and given them to Kairi, but what if he was wrong?

What if, whatever was going on with their memories, with the strangeness of the worlds around them, what if it had made him forget being with Kairi before? Loving her, as deeply as any other person could love someone else.

He leaned in and, to the sound of the woman's outraged screams, gave her a soft, emotional kiss.

Light exploded in front of his eyes, and swept through everything, embracing him in a warm, comforting hold.

...

The sound of shattering woke him up. Across the room, Riku had plunged his keyblade into the crystal sealing him up, causing it to fall apart. He stepped out and went over to the computer.

It took a while for the memories to come back. They were in Hollow Bastion castle, in the room with the keyhole to the heart of the world. Thorns around the room were burning up and disappearing, as Maleficent's power was vanquished. To the right of Riku's broken chamber, he heard a familiar scream of rage. He turned his head and just caught sight of Lea.

The redhead, still dressed in that Organisation cloak he refused to part with, was slamming his fists over and over against the crystal surrounding him. He seemed frantic and angry about something, but Sora couldn't remember what. He knew him and Riku had found Kairi and Lea trapped inside Maleficent's computer - where she'd held the other Princesses of Heart in some kind of new world built by all the data she'd stolen from King Mickey. He knew they'd agreed to put themselves in to, so they could rescue her...

But after that, everything was fuzzy and strange. Like it was too crowded to really remember what happened. Sometimes he thought he could pick a memory, but he seemed to see it from two different angles and then his hold on it slipped away.

It was weird. And frustrating.

Finally, Riku had done something with the computer, and the crystals holding them back began to disappear. Sora stood out, and summoned his keyblade. He hurried to Kairi's side, helping her down. She smiled at him. "I knew you'd save me," her voice was soft, but reassured. She'd never doubted it for a moment.

He leaned in to give her a soft kiss. Then they separated to help the other princesses out from their entrapments. Lea had turned his rage on the computer console, his shouts petering off to heavy sobs as he slashed at it with his keyblade.

Riku came over, but there was something cold and reserved about his expression. He looked between them - at their linked hands - and said nothing about it. After an awkward pause, he announced: "we have to go after Maleficent. She can't get away again. She'll be too weak to travel any further than the castle right now."

"I'm coming with you," Kairi said decisively.

"You should stay here and protect the Princesses," Riku answered. "You'll be able to handle it alone if she sends any heartless after you."

She looked like she was going to disagree with him, but she huffed and nodded. "Fine."

Riku nodded, then turned to the redhead who was hacking at what was left of the computer. "Axel. You with us?" He called.

The redhead paused. He straightened, discretely wiped at his face with one sleeve, then turned back to them. "Yeah. Let's go kick some Evil Faerie ass."

Sora grinned and summoned his keyblade, hoisting it onto his shoulder. "Yeah. Let's go defeat Maleficent once and for all!"


	31. Epilogue: Riku

King Mickey looked at him in concern. "Oh, gosh," he said - all but a straight up curseword from the King of Disney. "I'm sorry you all had to go through that while I was away."

Riku sighed. "It's fine. We handled it. And, objectively, it was only twelve hours." Twelve hours, but an entire lifetime he had crammed in his head. "Sora and Kairi don't remember," he continued. "Merlin thinks it had something to do with both Namine and Roxas having their own forms there. Too crowded to be able to remember things properly."

King Mickey nodded. "But you and Lea...?"

Riku sighed again. What were they going to do about Lea? He'd been stupid and reckless during their big fight with Maleficent, and most of the damage that caused the Hollow Bastion castle to crumble was his doing alone. But he'd been so fueled with range and grief, and Riku couldn't find it in himself to blame him.

"Lea is not taking it well. He was with Roxas, grew closer in different ways he never had before. Then to come back here and lose him all over again?" He shook his head. "Until Merlin and Tron have analyzed the data that Ansem the Wise gave me, we won't know if and when something can be done to free the people in Sora's heart."

"It might be best if we keep him away from Sora and Kairi for a while," the King said thoughtfully. "Maybe send him out on a mission on some outlying worlds, where he won't come across something that reminds him of painful memories."

Riku swallowed and bent his head slightly. He closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. Then he raised his head and looked at Mickey with determination. "Your Highness, with your permission I'd like to go away with him."

The King looked at him sadly. "I thought you might. You haven't spoken about it, but I can sense that your heart didn't escape Maleficent's world unscathed either."

"It's not so much what happened there," he mumbled, defeated, "as what can't happen out here." He just shook his head. "I can sympathise with him, and we were good friends in that world. Together, maybe we can help each other."

Mickey nodded. "Alright. I was hoping you could help us locate my other two friends, but if your heart tells you to go with Lea, then you should listen."

There was a quiet voice from the doorway. "Well, maybe I can help with that."

Riku turned his head and bowed. "Master Aqua. I didn't know you had awoken." Ever since they'd found her in the dark realm a few days ( _and a whole lifetime_ ) ago, she'd been too tired to be up and about. But she seemed stronger now, readily on her feet.

"You know where they are?" Mickey asked.

"Yes. But first, we'll need to find the Land of Departure..."


End file.
